Second Chance at Saving Them
by PercabethHinny
Summary: Just when life has calmed down and the last of the next generation has left for Hogwarts; Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione are thrown back in time overnight. They wake up looking like they did in 1991, while keeping the memories of their lives, lives they now have to live all over again. They meet some old friends along the way; and work to fix the lives they now live.
1. Bloody Hell I'm Ten!

**So, if you read Harry Potter fanfiction on Wattpad, you'll recognize this story. Don't worry, I'm the same PercabethHinny, you can PM me there if you don't believe me, but it's true. Anyway, if yon don't read on Wattpad, welcome to my story! You can get weekly(for the most part) updates here, or go on Wattpad and read this story(under the same name and username) which is currently coming up on forty chapters, and also where chapters will be first posted, once I catch up on that story.**

 **Now go enjoy the chapter if you haven't already!**

* * *

Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were all gathered on the Potter's back porch, sipping lemonade. It was a cool September day, September second to be exact. Both the Potters and Weasleys had just sent their last child off on the Hogwarts Express. Lily had joined her brothers in Gryffindor, and Hugo, true to Weasley tradition, joined her. The only Weasleys who hadn't become Gryffindors were Rose and Victorie, who were, or had been in Victorie's case, Ravenclaws.

The friends sat there for a few hours, talking about their own eventful first years, guessing how much trouble James and Fred, George and Angelina's child who was definitely channeling his namesake, would get into this year, and Ron was still grumbling about his daughter and Scorpius Malfoy's friendship. Finally, Ron and Hermione had to go home, leaving the Potters to enjoy the sunset alone, before setting off to bed.

When Harry woke the next morning, he was in a small, dark room. This put him on guard, and he reached for his wand, only to discover it wasn't there. He felt around quickly, and felt his hand hit a door knob. He turned it slowly, and stepped out. Harry immediately realized where he was, it was a place he hadn't been to in many, many years. He was in the Dursley's house on Number Four, Privet Drive.

He looked down and had to brace himself against the wall to stop himself from falling. He was really short, wearing pajamas he hadn't worn since he was twelve, and when he turned around, he realized he had just stepped out of his old cupboard. It hit him, _I'm ten years old again!_

* * *

Hermione had just woken up in her childhood bedroom, _Well that's strange, I could have sworn I fell asleep in my own bed..._ She looked around and saw that the room was very different than she remembered. It was tidy, the bookshelf was full of new books, and children's books, very unlike the wizarding books that had replaced those years ago. The ink splatter she had gotten on her sheets Christmas of first year was gone, and when she looked in the mirror, she nearly screamed, her teeth were huge and a bit crooked, her hair was frizzy and puffy, and her face was adolescent.

When she looked down, she was barely over a meter tall, as tall as she was when she was - _Bloody hell, I'm eleven again!_ she thought with shock, then she thought, _I've been spending too much time with Ron._

* * *

Ron slowly opened his eyes the next morning and was immediately blinded by a bright orange light. It took him a moment before he realized he was in his bedroom at the Burrow, which was strange, not only because he had fallen asleep next to Hermione last night, but because his mum had remodeled his room after he moved out years ago. Maybe his mum missed him and had kidnapped him in the middle of the night then redid his room. He stood up and stretched, _Maybe I'll get a big breakfast out of this._ He thought with delight, even though he usually had dinner with the family at least once a week, he missed his mother's breakfasts, especially the bacon.

He walked down the stairs, oblivious to the fact he was nearly two feet shorter than when he went to bed, that was, until he ran into Ginny.

* * *

Ginny, still half unconscious, rolled over, only to have her hand flop off the bed. Her eyes snapped open, where was Harry? He was always there in the morning. She bolted up a second later and looked around at her surroundings. Her eyes widened, she noticed in seconds that was in her old bedroom. She looked down, and realized she was wearing her ratty old nightgown, which was even weirder, she usually wore shorts and an old T-Shirt (Usually Harry's) to bed.

She jumped out of bed and looked in the mirror. She stared, open mouthed, at her reflection. She looked nine years old again! What was going on? Was she dreaming? She pinched herself a few times and even walked to the bathroom to splash cold water on herself. She pinched herself again and even slapped herself once before she had to face the truth: she actually was nine. If she was nine, that meant... FRED! She bolted out the bathroom door, plowing into Ron, and he jumped back,

"Ginny? Why do you look so young?"

"I don't - wait. What do you mean?" Ginny asked, not daring to get her hopes up.

"You look like you're nine again!"

"Look at yourself!" Ron looked down and staggered again, "So, you're actually from my time? You... You're not actually eleven?"

"I was thirty-eight when I went to bed." Ron confirmed.

"I was thirty-seven. Do you think we time traveled?"

"No, we would still be our age when we time-traveled." Ron pointed out, remembering what Hermione had told him about her third year.

"Ron, if we didn't time-travel, then we are really ten and nine years old again. But either way, that means Fred is..."

Ron's eye widened, then both of them ran to the twins room, flung open the door and ran to Fred's bed. This caused both Fred and George to wake up,

"Oi! What's with the sibling love all of a sudden? And why aren't I being included?" George asked indignantly.

This was said on deaf ears, however, Ginny and Ron were busy hugging a confused Fred (yes, it was actually Fred). George shrugged and jumped onto his twins bed, pulling all three into his arms. Bill and Charlie found them a few minutes later, and ran to drag Percy into the room with them before joining in. Mrs. Weasley found them like that ten minutes later,

"What's going on?" She asked, pleasantly surprised.

"No idea." Most of the group chorused in response.

* * *

 **That took longer than expected, mostly because of Wattpad being stupid and I was trying to figure out the right words.**

 **EDIT: Yes, I've started editing chapters. For those of you just starting, the chapters get longer from here on out, averaging around 2000 - 2100 words. So please don't be put off by the shortness of this chapter. I would have added more, but I don't want to mess with the plot too much for my existing readers.**

 **~PH**


	2. Trying to Figure It Out

**Decided to post another update, because why not? This chapter is still kinda short, the 2,000 word ones come in a few chapters, don't worry!**

 **BTW, I may take some artistic liberties on somethings, mostly small things.  
**

* * *

Harry quickly collected himself and tiptoed over to the downstairs bathroom. He looked in the mirror and saw his ten year-old self staring back at him, it was one of the strangest feelings he had ever experienced, more strange than when he time traveled and saw himself, even more strange than when he had finally killed Voldemort and no longer felt the pressure of the wizarding world on his shoulders. Then he had a terrible thought, _Was it all a dream?_ This thought lasted a brief minute because there was no way he could have dreamed twenty-eight years of life in one night. Especially the life he had. He began to think of what had happened, why he was at the Dursley's and ten years-old again, perhaps he had time-traveled? No, he dismissed the thought. He would still look like a thirty-nine year-old.

He walked into the kitchen and saw the calendar, it was June 23, which was pretty bizarre, but what was really strange was that the calendar said it was 1991, the year he got his Hogwarts letter. It was also the year of the "Zoo Mishap", as Dudley now called it, he realized. The next thing he realized, _If it's 1991, that means... Oh no. I never killed Voldemort. He's still alive. At least in wraith form, anyway._ If anyone had walked in on Harry in that moment, they probably would have thought he was insane. His eyes had widened, he was pacing and his old habit of flattening his hair when he was nervous returned.

He turned around and saw a huge mound of presents already in the sitting room, then he saw his Aunt Petunia walk through the door, and he thought back to what had happened the last time he had seen her, it was right after he had defeated Voldemort, and he was letting the Dursley's know they could come out of hiding. The first thing his Aunt had done was hug him, which was strange by itself, but she had also said she was glad she didn't lose him too.

After that, they mostly communicated through cards, as Uncle Vernon still didn't approve of him. But Harry kept her updated, including the name of his daughter and his son with Lily's eyes, both of which resulted in tear-stained letters in response. He stared for a moment until Aunt Petunia snapped at him to go get dressed then start cooking breakfast. Harry was startled by her harsh tone, but then remembered that he wasn't exactly on good terms with her at eleven, or even seventeen.

He went to get dressed and cook quickly, he wanted to prevent seven long years of tension and anger. It helped that he had another twenty-eight years of cooking under his belt. After Dudley and Uncle Vernon came down and ate, and Dudley opened his presents, Harry sat and listened as Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon again argued about where to send him over the mail. The conversation ended up with him going with them, again. _Well, this will be interesting._

* * *

Hermione was pacing her room, thinking of anything she had done recently that could cause this when a large, tawny owl swooped into her window. She recognized this owl at once, it was a Hogwarts owl, and it seemed to be holding her Hogwarts letter, along with the note explaining that a Hogwarts representative would be stopping by later in the day to explain everything. _Well, I should make this convincing._ At this thought, she promptly ran down to her parents, exclaiming about how she was a witch and she got invited to an exclusive school. It was strange, she felt like someone should be telling her to act her age and not like an eleven year-old, but to everyone else, she was eleven.

True to their word, Hogwarts sent a representative to her house later that day, it was McGonagall, the same as last time. She listened patiently as McGonagall explained the world of witches, wizards, and magic. She had thankfully honed her acting skills over the past few years and acted surprised and like she was in disbelief at the right moments. After her parents went to make some tea (and most likely discuss their daughter's future without prying ears) Hermione turned to McGonagall,

"Excuse me, Professor McGonagall, does the world of wizards have anything to do with the Potters?" She knew that she was risking letting others know she knew more than she should, but she also had to know if Harry was okay, or if the something that happened was someone changing the events at Godric's Hollow that Halloween. This shocked McGonagall, though she hid it well, and she asked,

"Why, yes. However, did you know about the Potters? They were not very involved in the Muggle community from what I remember."

"I don't remember exactly, but I remember reading about a strange disappearance and the Potters. I was just wondering... What happened to them?" McGonagall looked down for a moment before regaining her composure and responding,

"I do not know exactly what happened, only that the Potter's son is the only Potter left." Hermione had to fight the smile and put a sad look on her face. She was delighted that Harry was still around. After another hour, Hermione's parents had agreed to allow her to attend Hogwarts and McGonagall left after explaining the Platform. _This is going to be a long two months._ Hermione thought, knowing she would have to wait until then to see her friends if she even got them to be friends with her again because she certainly wasn't going to throw herself in front of a troll again. Okay, maybe she would if it came down to it.

* * *

Ron and Ginny had one of the best family dinners in a while, since Bill and Charlie were home for the week, as this was one of the few times both of them could get off at the same time, besides the occasional Christmas and Easter, they wanted to get together as a family before everyone who was old enough went to Hogwarts. For Ron and Ginny, it was the first time all the Weasleys had been together in over twenty years. But, at the same time, it seemed quiet (odd as that sounds at the Weasley household), without all the kids and adopted family. Both missed their kids dearly, even though they would be at Hogwarts anyway, they would have at least gotten letters. It certainly helped that Fred was alive, George had both ears, and they were finishing each other's jokes and sentences.

Eventually, after a long day of Quidditch (which Ginny had played, after much convincing from both Ginny and Ron), family, and talking, the Weasleys retired to bed. When she was sure everyone was fast asleep, Ginny sneaked up to Ron's room, where they had agreed to meet and talk earlier that day, since it was the farthest from their parents' and Percy's rooms. When she entered, she saw the cage Ron kept Scabbers in. She knew his story by now and looked back and forth between the cage and Ron. _Oh no, this is bad. What are we going to do about the rat?_ She looked at Ron, who was thinking the same thing, how were they going to get rid of him? Then, an idea came to Ginny, she knew exactly what to do, but it would have to wait until Ron went to Hogwarts. She made sure Scabbers was actually asleep, which he was, before explaining to Ron what he had to do, and made sure he understood before she retired to bed and an uneasy sleep.

The next morning, while at breakfast, Ron looked over to Mrs. Weasley,

"Mum, can you put a locking charm on Scabbers' cage? I think he's been escaping at night, and I don't want to lose him." Mrs. Weasley looked slightly confused but agreed nonetheless.

That day, there was a locking charm on Scabbers' cage, one the allowed only Ron to open the cage. Things were looking up; as soon as he got to Hogwarts, Ron would bring Scabbers to Dumbledore and reveal him as Peter Pettigrew, which, hopefully, would get Sirius freed from Azkaban, two years early, and legally. All they had to do was wait, and hopefully not kill Pettigrew before they got the chance to turn him in.

* * *

 **~PH**


	3. The First Communication

**Just another chapter, enjoy!**

* * *

By the time Harry's first Hogwarts letter came, he had improved his relationship with both Dudley and Aunt Petunia, though as much as he tried, Uncle Vernon was a lost cause. He always offered to help Aunt Petunia with cooking, cleaning and with the garden, and making friends with Dudley was as easy as staying out of his way when out of the house and offering to be player two at home (also letting him win in these games).

So when the first letter came, as much as he wanted to take it and confront them head-on about his being a wizard, he knew the only way he would make it to Diagon Alley was if Hagrid came and took him, which would only happen if Harry didn't respond to the letter. So he did the same thing he did all those years ago and walked into the kitchen reading his letter. Uncle Vernon took it, showed it to Aunt Petunia and they both started freaking out. They argued for half an hour, gave Harry the bedroom upstairs, and did everything they could to stop the letters from coming, but it all happened anyway, every letter in every device and egg, crazy Uncle Vernon, rocky seaside cottages, with the only exception being Aunt Petunia giving Harry a better blanket and pillow.

He stayed up, counting the seconds on Dudley's watch until Hagrid came and bust down the door, scaring Dudley up off the couch again.

"Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey..." Hagrid said in his gruff voice.

Harry chuckled, Hagrid was completely oblivious about his size sometimes. He set about making the tea, while Hagrid pulled out his birthday cake, he thanked Hagrid and offered some to everyone else, though they all refused. After Harry finished his tea, Hagrid started talking about Hogwarts, and since Harry really didn't want Hagrid to give Dudley a pigs tail again, he decided it would be better to confuse the Dursleys with his knowledge of the wizarding world then make them even more hateful towards it. Finally, Hagrid was done talking and they went to bed.

The next morning, they set off for Diagon Alley, this time Harry suggested they walk right through the Leaky Cauldron, to avoid crowds in any stores. It was a feeble excuse, but Harry didn't want to listen to people fawning over him. So, they continued through and stopped by Gringotts.

"Yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it." Hagrid said as they climbed the steps, and Harry couldn't help but burst out laughing, which he had to quickly turn into a coughing fit to avoid questions. They then got some gold for Harry, then got the Sorcerers Stone. Although, Harry wasn't supposed to know that.

After that, it was time for what Harry thought was going to be his first meeting with Malfoy, he wanted to avoid becoming enemies with him, but it seemed that walking right through had delayed him enough that he only passed Malfoy on the way out of his fitting.

Next stop was Flourish and Blotts, then the Apothecary, and then Hagrid announced he was going to get Harry a gift, an owl. Harry walked into Eeylops and he walked out once again with Hedwig; it was strange seeing her again, but Harry was rather happy that Hedwig had chosen him again. It was then he realized he would be seeing a lot of people that were dead in his time, hopefully, he would see most of them before he had before. After that, it was time to get his wand, and this, of course, ended up the same. Harry used this to confirm a connection that he knew was present between him and Voldemort at this time.

When Harry got back to the Dursley's, he immediately went up to his bedroom and wrote three letters, it was a bit of a risk, but he was hoping that he wasn't the only one in this predicament. So he gave two of the letters to Hedwig with specific instructions to only deliver them if they recognized her and called her by name.

* * *

Ron and Ginny were now meeting in her room, which meant they had to be quieter, but Scabbers wasn't in the room and even though he couldn't escape, they didn't want to risk anything when it came to the man who betrayed Harry's parents and got away with it for fourteen years. Then, there was a tapping at the window, both of them jumped then Ron walked over and opened the window,

"Hedwig!" They both whisper-shouted, "What are you doing here?" She responded only by sticking out her claw with the letters tied to it. Ginny grabbed them both and gave Ron the one with his name on it after they both finished their letters they looked at each other, "Harry was sent back too? Do you think Hermione was too?"

Ron was probably hoping she was so it wouldn't be so awkward being around his wife. Ginny, on the other hand immediately thought of Harry.

"We should probably let him know we're ok. Here, we can write him a letter, you first."

"Why me?" Ron asked

"Because you'll just read what I write. This way, you can't." She responded, crossing her arms, which meant Ron lost and he wrote what he needed to write, then passed to paper to Ginny, who wrote her own letter and when she was done tied the letter to Hedwig's leg and sent her off.

* * *

Harry was still up when Hedwig came back, he quickly took the letter and gave her an owl treat. He finished the letter and smiled, he was glad he wasn't the only one who was stuck in this predicament and was especially glad he wouldn't have to worry about whether or not he would end up with Ginny again. After he finished reading the letter, he gave Hedwig another owl treat and tied his letter to Hermione to her leg, after adding that Ron and Ginny had also returned, he gave Hedwig the same instructions.

* * *

Hermione had almost fallen asleep when she heard a tapping at her window, which she immediately recognized as an owl, so she jumped over to the window, and recognizing her, she opened it,

"Hedwig! That must mean... Harry!" She carefully took the letter from Hedwig and read it, she smiled when she realized that not only Harry, but Ron and Ginny were stuck in their ten and nine year-old bodies as well, which was a relief, because it meant she wouldn't have to put herself in front of a troll and act helpless.

So she wrote a letter back to Harry explaining that she was stuck in the past too and stressed that he needed to be careful about everything he does. When she finished, she wrote a separate letter that she asked Harry to not open it and send it to Ron.

* * *

When Harry saw Hedwig arrive with two letters tied to her leg he breathed a sigh of relief, that meant Hermione was back, he grabbed the letters and noticed the one that said it was for Ron and decided it would be a good idea to leave it closed, but he also knew that Hedwig had been flying way too much tonight so decided to wait to send it after she got some rest.

For the next month this continued, a few letters sent every night. It had to be at night because otherwise, the Dursleys would get much too suspicious. When the night of August 31 came along, the trio was rather excited, though Ginny was rather sour about not being able to see Harry for more than ten minutes.

Because the pig tail incident had been avoided, Uncle Vernon had no reason to take Harry to the train. Luckily, Harry had still been able to get a ride from Aunt Petunia, who had claimed she needed to go shopping anyway. So the next morning, Aunt Petunia dropped him off at the train station, as he was about to get out of the car, she turned to him and said,

"I know this will sound strange, but to get to the platform, you need to run into the barrier between platform nine and platform ten. And Harry, be careful and don't mention this to your Uncle." Harry smiled,

"Thanks, Aunt Petunia, I won't mention it." He climbed out of the car, grabbed his truck and waved at his Aunt as she drove away. He, of course, already knew how to get on the platform, but appreciated the gesture. He also fully intended to play clueless when she met the Weasleys. He walked up to them and politely asked how to get on the platform, sending a wink towards Ron and Ginny.

"All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ron." She explained, and Harry smiled at her and emerged onto the platform moments later, followed by Ron, then Mrs. Weasley and Ginny. In the smoke and commotion, Harry was able to give Ginny a quick hug and an "I love you" before he loaded his trunk onto the train and he and Ron went to find an empty compartment. A few minutes after they found one, Hermione rushed in and after closing the compartment, gave Ron a big hug and a kiss, then gave Harry just as big a hug and a kiss on the cheek, which Ron knew was purely a sisterly one.

They sat down and were discussing what they should do in hushed voices when Neville came into the compartment,

"Have any of you seen a toad? I seem to have lost mine."

"No, sorry," Harry stood up, "Have you tried getting someone to summon it?" Neville shook his head, so Harry took out his wand, "Accio toad!" he said, and a second later, Trevor was in his hand, "Here you go, I'm Harry Potter by the way. This is Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger-We-." He cut himself off.

"You're Harry Potter? Really? My name's Neville Longbottom." Luckily, he didn't notice Harry's slip-up, which was a good thing. But who could blame him? He had been calling her Hermione Granger-Weasley for twenty-two years!

They wanted to invite him to join them, but they still had a lot to discuss, like what to do about the Horcruxes and if this was a way to save everyone who had died or if they had to find a way back or what, so they had to let him leave. But they had decided to help build his confidence more over the years if they had the opportunity.

They continued on talking, after casting Muffliato on the compartment, until Draco Malfoy walked in, followed by his goons, Crabbe and Goyle.

* * *

 **This is a lot closer to the average chapter length, to give the newcomers a picture. Anyway, reading through these chapters, I've realized I don't like using periods, apparently. Ah well, I'm fixing it now.**

 **~PH**


	4. Re-Meeting and Sorting

**These updates are really sporadic, but that's how it usually is with me. I occasionally get on a schedule, but it usually falls apart pretty quickly. But I will try to update once to twice a week until this story gets caught up with the Wattpad version.**

* * *

"Is it true?" Draco asked. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"

Harry internally groaned, Draco really was insufferable at this age. At any age before eighteen, really. But he wanted to avoid a seven year rivalry with an eleven year-old. So he simply smiled,

"Yeah, I am. And you are?"

"Malfoy. Draco Malfoy." He then seemed to realize Ron and Hermione were sitting there, and eager to show off his superiority, started insulting them, "No need to ask who he is, he must be a Weasley. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford." Ron scowled, but Harry simply smiled,

"I wouldn't put to much stock in money Draco. Money can become worthless in a minute, but family stays with you forever." Unless they get sent to Azkaban for torture, conspiracy, and murder. He added in his mind. Draco scowled,

"I guess she must be a Mudblood then, my father also told me the Weasleys are a bunch of blood-traitors." He said, trying to gain some ground against them. Ron nearly jumped from his seat, but Hermione pulled him down, preventing Ron from knocking him out. Harry snorted, though he too was struggling to keep his cool,

"Did your father also tell you that blood status means absolutely nothing to anyone except you pure-bloods obsessed with it, which, really, is such a small percent of the wizarding population." Even though he wanted to avoid a rivalry, he in no way wanted to be friends with this Draco. Plus, he needed Draco to leave.

At this Draco scowled and stalked off, with Crabbe and Goyle following him.

"Well, I would say we're already on the right path. At least Goyle didn't leave with bite marks this time. Speaking of which, you still have him, right? Because I want to turn him in as soon as possible, to avoid any chance of his escape." Ron nodded, and grabbed Scabbers's cage from the top rack,

"Hopefully the house elves don't try to open the cage."

"It's a shame that we rely on house elves for everything. A little labour never killed anyone." Hermione couldn't help but say, even if she had accepted the reality of the situation.

"Hermione, we've been over this, they don't mind it and they do it by magic anyway, plus, they're better off here than with the Malfoys. Especially since Dumbledore's the one in charge."

"I know, but still. Perhaps you should put a note on the cage, asking them not to open the cage. Nicely Ronald." Hermione said, Ron sighed but complied, making it a command, but a nice command.

Finally, they arrived at Hogsmeade station and climbed into a boat after saying hi to Hagrid. Neville soon joined them in the boat, still holding tightly onto Trevor. By the time they got to the Great Hall entryway, everyone, even the trio, was nervous, although the trio was more nervous about the sorting hat seeing their past memories and telling Dumbledore, and less about the actual sorting, they already knew where they were going to end up, no matter what.

In no time at all, they were in the Great Hall, everyone was sorted the same as they were the first time around, then it came to Hermione, who, after several minutes, was sorted into Gryffindor. On the way to the table, she gave Ron and Harry a thumbs up, and soon, it was Harry's turn once more.

"Another one, eh? And I'm guessing you want to be put in Gryffindor again?" The hat spoke into his ear, Yeah, that'd be nice. I'd rather stick with my friends. Also, could you not mention this to Dumbledore? I don't need a lecture about being careful about my knowledge of the future. It almost sounded like the hat sighed, but he soon shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" McGonagall took the hat and Harry joined Hermione at the Gryffindor table, laughing at the twins shouting,

"WE GOT POTTER, WE GOT POTTER!"

Ron soon joined them and after Dumbledore's warning about the Forbidden Forest and the third floor corridor, they quickly started digging into the feast. Even though Mrs. Weasley's home cooked meals were the best, there was something about Hogwarts feasts that made them amazing. Harry quickly grabbed a large slice of treacle tart, his favorite.

* * *

The next day, it was time for classes. Though this time they were on time from the beginning, even if they idled around for several minutes. By this time, they knew the school better than anyone, with the knowledge of the Marauders Map, and their own previous knowledge. They were even able to stop Peeves's interference and get him on their side by promising him a few dungbombs if him left them alone, which he, of course, gleefully accepted.

Astronomy was the same as always, a lot of sitting around and waiting, but Herbology became a task, as the trio simultaneously took care of the plants while convincing Neville that he was a talented herbologist already. But they couldn't be too over-enthusiastic, if there was one thing they learned about Neville, it was that he had to come into his confidence on his own, and not by someone pressuring him.

History of Magic was boring as always, but the years of boring meetings about statistics and the Ministry policies enabled the trio to stay awake without much trouble. Charms was pretty simple, for thirty-eight year old adults, it was more a tedious task than an actual lesson. Then there was Transfiguration. Considering Harry had become an Animangus a few years back (he was an owl) and Ron and Hermione had researched along with him, even though they hadn't wanted to become Animangi themselves, this was one of their easiest classes. This made McGonagall highly pleased with them, and they became her favorite students once more, though she would never admit it.

Quirrell's class was a joke, Harry and Ron mostly goofed off all through the class, finding different things to complain about, whether it be Harry's scar hurting, or the 'garlic' in his turban was making them sick. What really excited them was that they would finally be able to turn in Pettigrew at the end of the week. But first, they had to deal with Snape on Friday. Fortunately, Harry had years of experience in potions, since it was a required skill for Aurors, and was able to answer Snape's questions (which were NOT meant for first years) with ease, though it didn't help his relationship with him any, it didn't give him anything to complain about.

Finally, at the end of the day that Friday, after they visited Hagrid, the trio grabbed Scabbers's cage and brought it to Dumbledore's Office.

"Any idea of the password? It's usually a candy, but I have no idea." Hermione asked

"Lemon Drops?" To their surprise, the gargoyle jumped aside, revealing the passage way to the Headmaster's office.

"Nice, first try." Ron said. They climbed the steps, and when they reached the top, they saw a surprised Dumbledore waiting for them behind his desk,

"My, it's not often that first years are able to find my office. Even less often that they are able to guess my password correctly. I must say, I'm rather impressed. Now, what brings you here?" Dumbledore asked, his fingers together in his endlessly wise way.

"My rat." Ron said, holding up the cage, "I think there is something wrong, he freaks out whenever we mention Voldemort," At that Pettigrew hudled into the corner, "And we heard McGonagall taking about wizards who could turn into animals..." They had, in fact, made it a point to be around when she was discussing Animangi with a third year. Dumbledore nodded,

"And you were wondering if that had anything to do with your pet? A bit outlandish, but I understand your concerns. May I see your pet?" He asked, "There is a simple spell that will not harm him at all, but will force him to resume his natural form if he is an Animangus."

Ron nodded and carefully, holding him tightly handed him to Dumbledore. Dumbledore waved his wand and, after a moment, Peter Pettigrew was sitting on Dumbledore's floor, hudled in a ball. As Pettigrew looked up and Dumbledore saw his face, Dumbledore's face became a mask, but Harry recognized the fury underneath the mask, he had seen it a few times, in both Dumbledore and himself.

Dumbledore quickly tied Pettigrew up in ropes and stupyfied him then moved swiftly to his desk and wrote a letter. He gave it to Fawkes, who burst into flames. Dumbledore turned to the trio,

"If I may, I would like to discuss something with Harry."

"With all do respect, anything you can say to me, you can say to Ron and Hermione. They're my best friends." Harry replied. To Dumbledore, they had known each other for a week, so best friends would seem like an exaggeration, he was sure; but to him, it was almost thirty years together. However, Dumbledore nodded.

"Very well. Now, as you are aware, your rat was indeed a animangus. What you may not be aware of, is that this man is not supposed to be alive. Now Harry, I hadn't wanted to tell you this until you were older, but this man is the one that gave away your parents location to Voldemort."

Harry knew this of course, but never the less pretended to act shocked and angry; he remained silent though.

"Now, the man that had been thought to have killed him was a man named Sirius Black. He was sent to Azkaban, the wizard prison. Now, I am not sure if this is the truth, but my guesses are usually rather good. Now, what I believe to have happened is that Sirius, who was your parents' best friend, went after Peter, who was thought to have been your parents'l friend, after he discovered that Peter betrayed your parents. And after that, I am unsure. But after a massive explosion, Peter was believed to be dead, I now believe he faked his death by cutting off his own finger and escaping into the sewers."

After Dumbledore finished explaining, Cornelius Fudge walked in, followed by Madame Bones, and none other than the toad lady herself. Dolores Umbridge had come into the trios' lives a full four years before anyone was expecting. And she looked as vindictive as ever.

* * *

Several hours and many questions later, Pettigrew was in chains and off to Azkaban, and Sirius was on his way to Hogwarts. Fortunately, as Fudge was on Harry's side for now, Umbridge directed her viciousness towards Pettigrew, and treated Harry as 'The-Boy-Who-Lived' which threw off Harry and the others, but they didn't voice that, they had no need to have the toad mad at them, especially since they couldn't just make clip-clopping sounds to scare her.

Eventually, Sirius Black arrived in Dumbledore's office. He saw Harry and before the Auror who brought him in could stop him, he pulled Harry into a hug, which Harry couldn't help but return, no matter how strange it looked to Dumbledore or the Auror, because he had his godfather back. One of the three father figures he had through his life, though, unfortunately, none were his actual father, and no matter what they did right this time around, nothing could change that.

* * *

 **EDIT: I didn't even have an end note for this chapter, which is interesting. Oh well. Also, the lack of periods continued in this chapter. (Hopefully) Fixed now though.**

 **~PH**


	5. Time to Fly and The Room of Requirement

**More random chapter uploads, sorry!**

* * *

After a few minutes of hugging, Dumbledore cleared his throat,

"I'm sorry to break up this heart-warming reunion, but I do have somethings to discuss with Harry and Sirius, and this time, I must ask Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley to wait outside. I'd like to discuss what is going to happen to you next Harry." As much as Harry wanted to argue, he figured he had pushed it with Ron and Hermione staying this long. So, he nodded to them, and they nodded back and walked outside.

"Now, Harry, something else I need to tell you is that Sirius is your godfather. Your parents wished for you to live with him, but considering the circumstances surrounding Sirius, you went to your next living relatives. But now that Sirius has been cleared, those circumstances have changed. So he-"

"He'll be living with me. That's ok, right Harry?" Sirius asked, turning to him.

Harry looked to Dumbledore then back to Sirius, choosing his words carefully, "Well, I think it would be best if I went to my Aunt and Uncle's for maybe a week at the beginning of summer, then came to live with you. Is that ok Professor Dumbledore?" It pained him to say, but he was in no rush to lose his mother's protection, it had saved him from Voldemort quite a few times and knew he would need it in the future. If that meant staying at the Dursley's for a week, so be it.

"That is a very wise decision Harry, perhaps better than what I was going to suggest. Sirius, are you ok with this?" He asked, though Harry could almost see his mind working out any possibilities, even behind the twinkle.

"Absolutely. But what about right now? I don't want to leave and not see him until June!"

"Calm yourself, Sirius. I understand the uniqueness of the situation and realize you want to get to know each other. If you would like, you may stay in the room near the kitchens. I must stress, however, that you must not interfere with the studies of the students. No matter how funny the prank is."

"That'll be perfect Dumbledore. Though no promises on the no pranks." Sirius winked at Dumbledore, who smiled and bid the two goodbye. Outside, Ron and Hermione were talking in hushed voices, then jumped back when Sirius and Harry walked out of Dumbledore's Office.

"So, what's going on?" Hermione asked, glancing at the smile on Sirius's face. Apparently, those two years had done a lot. He looked even better than he did when he died. Perhaps it was because he was legally free, or maybe because Pettigrew was about to go to Azkaban and wasn't running around free. Whatever it was, it made him look youthful and joyful.

"Well, Sirius is going to be staying at Hogwarts, at least for this year. Then, I'm going back to the Dursley's for a week before going to live with Sirius the rest of the summer." Hermione nodded.

Harry looked at Sirius, "I would love to stay and talk Sirius, but I don't think it would be a good idea to be caught out of bed less than a week into the school year."

Sirius looked at him with shock, "You may look just like your father, but you are just like your mother." Sirius said, then added under his breath, "Let's just hope you don't have her temper." Harry chuckled, he knew he had the temper Lily Potter was famous for. Sirius didn't seem to notice however, "I guess you're right though. You have to wait until at least the second week to be out of bed after dark. You need at least a week to find some secret passages so you can escape without being caught. That reminds me..." Sirius broke off, "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow Harry. And friends."

"Oh sorry, I'm Hermione Granger, and this is Ron Weasley."

"Weasley, huh? I knew your father. Not well, but I worked with him a few times." Sirius said, then realized it was getting dark, "Well, you kiddies better get going. The last thing I need at the moment is Minnie yelling at me for influencing "innocent students" again." Harry couldn't help but snort, Sirius had no qualms about influencing anyone. Sirius ruffled his hair and sent them on their way.

* * *

The next week passed quickly and people had gotten over the ex-convicted murder living at Hogwarts. All except Snape, anyway, and the next Saturday the trio woke up rather excited, well, Harry and Ron were. This was because their first flying lesson was today. It had been postponed because Madame Hooch had come down with a cold.

When they got down to breakfast, they fell to the ground laughing, it seemed that Sirius had already given in and turned Snape's hair pink and curly. Snape wasn't too happy, and when Sirius walked in and sat next to the trio, he looked absolutely livid. He leaned over to talk to Dumbledore, who seemed jolly as Snape was mad. After Dumbledore said something to Snape, the potions master got up and swept out of the Great Hall, presumably to try and change his hair back.

"So, do you have any plans for today?" Sirius asked, a grin was plastered on his face and his eyes were brighter than Dumbledore's.

"We have flying today, apparently Madame Hooch had a cold the day we were supposed to have lessons."

"Flying? Your father was a Quidditch player, him and I were on the Gryffindor team. He was a Chaser, I was a Beater. You look like you could either been a Chaser or a Seeker. Though, you won't be able to even try out before second year." Harry nodded, and quickly took a gulp of his pumpkin juice to hide his smile. He was most definitely a Seeker, and there was no way he was waiting until second year to try out.

The trio soon had to go down to the Quidditch field for flying with the Slytherins. It was very similar to the first time, except Hermione didn't even bother trying. She was rubbish at flying unless it was a life or death situation, and flying practice certainly wasn't. Soon, it was time to mount the brooms, and same as last time, Neville was too quick to get up in the air and he ended up falling. The only difference was that Hermione was quick enough to perform a cushioning charm, preventing Neville from breaking his arm. Madame Hooch still had to bring him to the hospital wing however, since it was protocol.

It seemed Malfoy couldn't help but steal whatever he wanted, because he picked up the Remembrall that Neville forgotten to take out of his pocket since Thursday.

"Really Malfoy, must you steal everything?" Harry called across the pitch.

"What's it to you, Potter?" Draco shouted back.

"Just give it to me Malfoy, no use getting all worked up about it."

"You'll have to come get it!" Draco shouted, quickly flying into the air, holding the Remembrall tightly in his hand. Harry sighed, but bit back a smile. As much as it had infuriated Draco that Harry had gotten "special treatment" Harry didn't think he could handle not playing Quidditch, even if it was only a year.

So Harry pushed off the ground and whirled around to face Malfoy, who looked just as shocked as last time. "So Malfoy, you gonna hand it over now? Because I could just fly over there and grab it."

Malfoy apparently didn't believe him because he threw the Remembrall up in the air and flew to the ground. Harry sped after the small ball, letting it fall just enough so that he could grab it just as his feet skimmed the ground. He caught the Remembrall and pulled up, gliding to a halt near the small group of first years. Hermione was looking at him with exasperation and Ron was smirking, having been in on the plan.

Within two minutes of Harry's feet touching the ground, McGonagall came running out, robes billowing behind her as she ran.

"HARRY POTTER!"

Harry tried his best to look ashamed, he knew he was certainly a better actor, but McGonagall could usually tell if you were acting from a mile away.

"Never - in all my years at Hogwarts!"

Harry went to protest, mostly because it was more believable, but he was cut off by McGonagall,

"How - Could've broken your neck!"

"But Professor!"

"Enough Miss Patil. Come with me Mr. Potter." The Gryffindors all protested but Harry gave them a reassuring look and followed McGonagall, who lead him to the Gryffindor Common Room, where Harry guessed Wood was, since there were no classes today. McGonagall walked inside and soon came out with a big, burly boy. It was Oliver Wood.

McGonagall led the boys to a room where Peeves was, the poltergeist looked ready to drop something, until he realized that Harry was in the group as well, so he instead gave a wicked grin and swooped out. McGonagall turned to the two boys,

"Potter, this is Oliver Wood. Wood, I've found you a Seeker."

"Are you really that good Potter?" he asked turning to Harry, who shrugged.

"He caught that thing in his hand after a fifty foot dive. He didn't even touch the ground. Charlie Weasley couldn't have done it." Wood looked Harry up and down, he seemed to approve of McGonagall's appraisal.

"You ever seen a game of Quidditch Potter?" He had, of course, but they weren't to know that, so he shook his head. "Well you've got the right build. We'll have to get you a decent broom. Nimbus 2000 or a Cleansweep Seven, I'd say."

"I'll have to speak to Professor Dumbledore, see if we can bend the first-year rule. Heaven knows we need a better team than last year. I couldn't look Severus in the face for a week after we were flattened in that last match against Slytherin." She looked at Harry with a stern look, "I better hear you are training hard Mr. Potter, or I may just change my mind about not giving you a detention."

Then she smiled, "I'm sure Mr. Black has told you already, but your father was an excellent Quidditch player. He would have been proud." Harry smiled in appreciation.

* * *

Later that day, after Ron and Hermione got back from flying practice, Harry told them what happened.

"I for one can't believe you did that a -" she was cut off by Ron putting his hand over her mouth. Her eyes widened, she realized she was about to say again, rather loudly in front of full common room. Harry gave a sigh of exasperation,

"We need a better place to talk where -" he slapped his head, "Of course, come on guys." he ran from the Common Room, Ron and Hermione following close behind. In a few minutes, they were standing in the left corridor of the seventh floor, by Barnabas the Barmy.

"This is perfect Harry!" Hermione said, and Harry began walking back and forth. After walking past the wall three times, the door appeared and the trio walked inside. The interior looked just like the Weasley's family room at the Burrow, it was probably one of the most comfortable places any of them knew of. They settled down onto the couches, Ron and Hermione were on one couch, Ron's arm was around Hermione, and they started kissing each other. They were finally able to enjoy each other's company without looking suspicious and they were taking advantage of that.

"Just because no one else is here to wonder why two eleven year-olds are snogging each other when they apparently met two weeks ago doesn't mean you can be all over each other in here. Especially when I'm here." The two broke apart and Ron blushed.

Hermione however, gave Harry a pointed look, "Like you and Ginny won't want to do the same thing next year."

"OI! She's still my sister, and just because you guys are married in our time, doesn't mean I want to see my eleven year-old sister snogging my twelve year-old best friend."

"Oh get over it Ronald. I'm basically Harry's sister, and you're his best friend. It's the same thing." Ron still didn't look happy, so Hermione gave him another kiss and he calmed down.

"Fine. Just keep it to a minimum."

Harry rolled his eyes, "You know as well as I do that it's not up to me." he said, and Ron groaned and made a face.

"Okay. I really don't need details." Harry chuckled and Hermione hid her smile behind her hand. Ron gave her a fake glare and tickled her sides. Hermione dissolved into bouts of laughter and was slapping Ron's arms, trying to get him to stop.

Harry waited a few minutes before breaking them up and suddenly Hermione remembered what she had been saying to bring them here.

"I still can't believe you did that Harry, and just so you could get on the Quidditch team!"

"Look, he would have done it anyway. You remember what Malfoy was like at this age! Every word out of his mouth was either "My father will hear about this!", the "m" word, or mocking me about something!" Harry said, Hermione sighed, he made a valid point.

"I guess, but still, be careful Harry. We can't let anyone know."

"The same thing happened last time Hermione. But I've been thinking, and I think we should tell Sirius."

"What? Why?" Ron asked, confused.

"Because, we need an adult to help us. We have the Horcruxes to worry about still and we can't get them without a little help, not when everyone thinks we're eleven years-old. Plus, we need the locket from Grimmauld Place, and with his relation to Bellatrix, Sirius can get into her vault without much trouble, especially since she's in Azkaban at the moment."

"I guess that makes sense. But still, we can't tell anyone else, except maybe Remus to help Sirius." Hermione said, trying to emphasize the point.

"I know. So, if we tell Sirius, we can get to the locket, the diadem, the cup and the ring if we tell Sirius where it is. I don't think the snake was made until later, because he knew about the diary being destroyed. So that leaves the diary and me. The diary should be easy enough, once Malfoy's father gives it to Ginny. But there's no way to take care of the one in me until Voldemort returns."

Hermione nodded and a moment later, a small piece of parchment appeared in her lap. On it, Harry saw her write the Horcruxes down.

Ron nodded as he realized what was being written, "Good idea Hermione. We need to keep track of everything. So, we've decided to tell Sirius?" Harry and Hermione nodded. "Then we should tell him now. Waiting will just make us hesitate."

Hermione nodded in agreement,"You're right Ronald. Harry?" Harry nodded and got up. Hermione put the parchment on the table in the center of the room and followed suit.

* * *

They reached the basement in a few minutes, by using any shortcut they knew. Finally, they reached the room Sirius was staying in. Luckily, it was still early enough that they could stay for a while and make it back before dark. They knocked on the door,

"Come in!" They heard Sirius call from within, and they entered with caution, even Sirius wasn't beyond using cheesy muggle tricks (with a little bit of magic), like levitating a bucket full of water (or worse) above a doorway. Sure enough, when they looked up, they saw a bucket above their heads,

"Sirius, if you dump that on our heads, I will personally curse you." Harry said, sending him a glare.

"Oh fine, you're no fun!" Sirius said, but placed the bucket on the floor anyway. "So what do you need Prongslet?" He had told Harry a little about the Marauders, and Harry had gotten used to the nickname.

"This is important Sirius, we need to talk to you." Sirius looked at the serious faces on the trio an nodded at them to speak, "Well, it's complicated. So I'm just gonna say it. Sirius; Ron, Hermione, myself and Ginny, Ron's younger sister, aren't from this time. We're thirty-eight years old, well, Ginny's thirty-seven, but the point is, we're near-forty year olds who are stuck in their younger bodies."

Sirius looked gob-smacked, "What? That's impossible!"

"I can prove it. You, my father, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. You were known as the Marauders and you were Animangi, except Remus, who was a werewolf. You used to bully Snape, and my father had a crush on my mother for years, but she wouldn't go out with my father because he bullied Snape, who was one of her best friends. She seemed to hate him, really. But finally, in seventh year, after they became Head Girl and Head Boy, dad shaped up and mum agreed to go out with him." Harry said, looking Sirius in the eyes the entire time.

"Your really serious, aren't you?" he asked

"No, you are." Ron said, trying to lighten the mood. This resulted in a smack from Hermione and Harry shook his head.

"Yeah Sirius, that's the full truth. But we didn't tell you for no reason. We need your help."

* * *

 **2960.(Including the author's notes on top and bottom) That's how many words are in this chapter. Holy cow. You lucky ducks, you basically got a double chapter! Wow.**

 **EDIT: I added over forty words in this edit, so it's officially over 3000 words. But this is a long chapter, which I guess was my way of making up for the previously rather short ones. Also, it's more of a chapter and a half now. Still, yay for long chapters.**


	6. The Truth Comes Out

**Here ya go!**

* * *

"What can I do?" Sirius asked, not questioning the trio.

"We need you to get three things. These things are vitally important to making the future a better place and keep people from dying." Harry said, and Sirius nodded solemnly, "Ok. I need you to go to Grimmauld place, and tell Kreacher to give you Regulus's locket, but be nice about it. Trust me on this, Kreacher makes a great ally. Then, I need you to go to Gringotts and access the Lestrange vault. It should be easy enough since Bellatrix is your cousin, but if not then you might have to get Aurors involved. Tell them you suspect illegal artifacts inside. There, you should find a golden cup with a badger on it, we need that. The last item is in a shack outside of Little Hangleton."

"You mean the old Gaunt Shack? My parents used to talk about them, descendants of Slytherin, I think."

Harry nodded, "In the shack, it's under the floorboards, is a ring. Be careful, there are sure to be all sorts of curses surrounding it. But whatever you do, DON'T put it on. Maybe you should contact Lupin first, get him to go with you, just in case."

Sirius sighed, "Remus was my best friend, next to your dad, and I suspected him of being the traitor. I don't know if he'll forgive me." Harry sat down next to Sirius, while Hermione and Ron sat across from them.

"Sirius, in the time we come from, we met you because you escaped Azkaban." Sirius looked like he wanted to interrupt, but didn't. "After you escaped, you were thinking along the same lines, and there was the fact that Lupin thought you were the traitor. But, after he discovered the truth, you became friends again. Sure, it wasn't the same as before, but he forgave you."

"I escaped Azkaban? That's so cool! But, he really forgave me?" Harry nodded. "Ok. I'll talk to him before I do anything."

Harry smiled and gave Sirius a hug, "Well, we have to go, as much as you don't want to hear it, I would rather stay out of trouble this time around. We certainly had enough of that the first time."

Ron snorted, "Yeah, giant three headed dogs, devils snare, giant wizard chess sets, possible poisoning, Voldemort on the back of Quirrell's head, petrifaction, Basilisks, the Chamber of Secrets, the Triwizard Tournament-"

"We get it Ron." Hermione said, there was honestly way to much and they would be here all day if they talked about all the trouble they got into. He didn't even get to the dragon.

Sirius groaned, "Fine, but I might as well take you to the Common Room, come on." Sirius said, getting up to lead them to Gryffindor Tower. They got there without much trouble, though Harry couldn't help but notice McGonagall roll her eyes when they passed, they probably reminded her of the Marauders.

* * *

Sirius joined the kids at the Gryffindor table at breakfast the next morning, he looked worried, but happy.

"Well, I sent a letter to Remus, hopefully he gets it soon and responds. I didn't tell him about... anything, but I told him I wanted to meet up again, and I wanted to talk to him." The trio nodded, they knew they would have to tell Remus, he was the only person who could keep Sirius on track, but it would probably be safer to tell him in person in a private place.

Plus, Harry was sure Dumbledore was monitoring his mail, and by extension Ron, Hermione, and Sirius's, which was why they hadn't contacted Ginny at all. Honestly, they were being very careful when it came to Dumbledore, they all knew that he was doing it for good reasons, but they also knew that some of Dumbledore's plans had backfired, and they were hoping to avoid his interference.

After breakfast, it was time for the trio to go to their classes, which, unfortunately included Potions with the Slytherins.

* * *

It was the last class of the day, Potions, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione were excited to see if Sirius had gotten a response. Snape had picked their partners today,and separated them. Hermione suspected that Dumbledore knew something was up and told him to do just that.

Other than that, it was rather uneventful, though Harry took great pleasure in laughing at Ron being paired up with Lavender. Hermione had gotten over the sixth year debacle a long time ago and just shook her head as Ron tried in vain to get Harry to shut up.

When they got to Sirius's room after class, he was gone, but there was a note on the bed.

 _Harry, Ron, and Hermione,_

 _I just wanted to let you know that I got a response, turns out he was staying just outside of Hogsmeade. He wanted to stop by, but he has his furry little problem to worry about, so we'll probably be back tomorrow afternoon. We can talk then, I can't wait for you guys to meet. I'll see you soon._

 _Sirius_

"I totally forgot it was the full moon tonight. I guess we're gonna have to wait to talk to Remus." Harry said, grabbing the note and leaving the room.

After they left the room, the silver-bearded headmaster appeared, having taken off the disillusionment charm he had cast on himself. Something was going on in his school, and he wanted to know what.

* * *

The next day, while they were in Charms, Lavender was called to the Headmasters office, which confused several people, since no one was ever called to the headmaster's office, especially first years. Charms continued as normal, with Harry, Ron, and Hermione trying their hardest to tone down their abilities and everyone else trying their hardest to accomplish the charm.

The same thing happened to Pavarti Patil in Transfiguration, Seamus in Herbology, and Neville (who seemed much more confident) in Potions. By now, the trio knew something was up, why were so many first year Gryffindors being called to Dumbledore's office? They had been rather careful about talking about their situation around everyone, especially him.

At the end of the day, they went to visit Sirius again. This time he was in his room, and Remus was there too, looking quite disheveled. Remus stopped talking about whatever they were talking about when the trio entered the room.

"It's ok Remus, this is-"

"Harry. I know. You look just like your father, with you mother's eyes."

"So I've been told." Harry said wryly, and Ron and Hermione hid a chuckle behind their hands.

"Lily's cheek too, huh?" Remus asked, turning to Sirius, who looked back and dead-panned,

"You have no idea." Then he turned to Harry, "So, what do you need Harry?"

"We need to talk to Remus." Harry responded. Behind him, Hermione cast a non-verbal, Homenum Revelio from under her robes as a precaution. There was someone else in the room, though she had no clue as to who, as they had seen Dumbledore walking down to Hagrid's earlier.

She knew it would be way to obvious to bump into him, so she would have to improvise before Harry told Lupin anything, then she remembered that Harry was supposed to be 'taught' Quidditch today.

"Excuse me, Mr. Lupin-"

"Please, call me Remus. And you are?"

"Okay, Remus, I'm Hermione, and I'm terribly sorry, but I just remembered, Harry was going to talk to Oliver Wood today about Quidditch. He's supposed to be there in thirty minutes." She gave Harry a pointed look and Harry nodded, understanding immediately.

"Oh yeah, I totally forgot I was supposed to do that. I guess we'll talk some other time?" Harry asked, turning to Remus, who nodded.

"Oh, Harry, before I forget," Sirius walked to the side of the bed and picked up a long package, "I figured you would need a broom if you're going to be on the Quidditch team."

Harry carefully took the package, "Wow Sirius, this is amazing! Thanks!" Harry gave Sirius a hug and Remus a goodbye before running off to the Quidditch Pitch, new Nimbus 2000 in hand.

* * *

The next day, after breakfast, the trio was once again in the Room of Requirement,

"We need to be more careful when it comes to talking about our secret. If Hermione hadn't thought to cast that spell, our secret could have gotten out to who knows who. Especially if it had been Dumbledore, the man's a genius but I don't think he could sit back and let us take the reigns if he knew the truth." Harry was saying.

"I know Harry, we could just cast Homenum Revelio when we enter the room, it's really the only way."

"Maybe we should lay off for now, try and act like normal students, get Dumbledore of our tail. We can tell Remus about the Horcruxes and let them deal with it." Ron suggested

"Uh-oh. I just remembered, we only have one way to get rid of Horcruxes; Fiendfyre. We certainly don't have access to a Basilisk fang since the Chamber hasn't been opened, and since it hasn't been opened, the sword hasn't absorbed the Basilisk venom, which means we can't use that either." Harry pointed out.

"We'll let them know that too, I guess." Then, the door opened, and Remus and Sirius entered the room. Hermione cast a quick spell after the doors closed, confirming that no one followed them there too, then gestured to the couch.

"Remus," Harry started, "We have something to tell you, it is the absolute truth, and we are telling you because we trust you and need your help. First, I need you to promise not to tell anyone, including Dumbledore."

"If it means that much, I suppose. What is this all about?"

"Remus, we," he gestured to Ron and Hermione, "Along with Ron's sister, aren't from this time. We are near forty year-olds stuck in the bodies of our younger selves. I knew this seems impossible, but I'll prove it. We you were five, you were bitten by Fenrir Greyback, and you became a werewolf. You were terrified that you wouldn't be allowed into Hogwarts, but Dumbledore let you in. Every full moon, Madame Pomfrey would take you to the Shrieking Shack via the secret passage beneath the Whomping Willow. In second year, my dad and Sirius figured it out, and in fifth year they became Animangi. After that, every full moon you would roam the Forbidden Forest together, exploring." he spoke rather quickly, but Remus caught every word of it,

"How do I know Sirius didn't tell you all that so you could prank me?"

"Okay, fine. Your patronus is a wolf, but you disguise it so that it looks non-corporeal because you fear that it will reveal too much about your condition, and you never told Dumbledore about your friends becoming Animangi because you feel that if he found out, it would betray his trust in you. You never really hated Snape, you just went along with it. And you hate one Dolores Umbridge, due to her more recent work to give you less rights."

"Wow. You're not lying. You really are from the future. But you said you needed my help. With what?"

"Destroying Voldemort's Horcruxes. We've told Sirius where they are, but we need you to keep him on track and help him destroy them. The only way to destroy them at them moment is Fiendfyre, so find a way to control it or find an isolated place where you can destroy them, but be careful." Harry told him.

"Another thing, in our time, you become the DADA Professor, and a real father figure to me. So, thanks for that." Harry told him, giving him a hug. Behind him, Hermione smiled and laid her head on Ron's shoulder, it was good to see Harry back with Remus and Sirius.

"So I'm guessing you two get married in the future?" Remus asked, causing Hermione to blush and Ron to laugh and put an arm around her.

* * *

 **I'm terribly sorry about any mistake spelling wise in this chapter. I finished it off on my IPod and my Auto correct is being all screwy, it keeps doubling the first letter, so sorry bout that.**

 **EDIT: This chapter is probably the best indicator of the average chapter so far, so I'll let you judge from here. Also, I finally came up with a name for this chapter, so that's certainly good.**


	7. Christmas Time

**Sorry about the single update last week, but I didn't have time with the holidays. They kinda took over my entire week, sorry about that, but here is the next chapter.**

* * *

The months started to pass quickly, with the most exciting event being the troll Quirrell let in, but the beast caused more panic than damage, as Ron had been waiting for it and dispatched him before he had the chance to do any damage. The real excitement came right before Christmas break, when Sirius finally made it through the goblins vigorous testing and got access to the Lestrange vault, and got the cup. This completed their collection of Horcruxes.

After safely stashing the cup with the rest of the Horcruxes with the diadem in the Room of Requirement, the trio, along with Sirius and Remus, moved to their hideout in another version of the Room. They were discussing the best, and safest, way to destroy the objects, since the most convenient method hadn't been created yet.

"The best way would be to find an isolated place and use Fiendfyre, though I'd feel better if the person doing it had some experience with it. Of course, most of those people are interested in the Dark Arts as a whole. Because the only other option is going into the Chamber of Secrets and slaying a hungry Basilisk with the missing Sword of Gryffindor." There were, or course, no volunteers, so Harry continued. "I would volunteer, but it's probably best if you two take care of it." He said, indicating the two physical adults in the room.

"Why us? Despite the fact I come from one such Dark Arts inclined family, I have very little knowledge of the stuff. From what you've told us, you have way more experience than either of us do." Sirius questioned.

"I'm sure I do, but the only place I can perform the charm would be on Hogwarts grounds. Which is really limited to this room, and since I don't want to risk losing the use of the Room, I'd rather use it somewhere isolated. Besides, if I do get caught then you'll have to take the blame, and do you want to explain why an eleven year old is practicing such serious dark magic?" Harry asked, eyebrow raised.

Sirius humped, "Dammit, I hate when you do that!"

"Yes, well, it's necessary sometimes. I still don't understand how you keep forgetting that we're supposed to be eleven year olds." Harry told him.

"It's easy to forget when you talk about Horcruxes and Fiendfyre as if they're nothing. Most eleven year olds just talk about . . . I don't know, but not that."

Ron snorted, "I'd just like to point out that when we were eleven, Harry was talking about Snape trying to kill him and how to stop him from stealing an object we knew next to nothing about."

Sirius stared for a minute, before collecting himself again, "Well that's good to know. You know, that my godson was worried about his teacher killing him as an eleven year old."

"You got used to it pretty quickly last time around. I've had a target on my back since I was a year old, and it's been there ever since. It's just become smaller as Voldemort's influence fades. . . will fade. You know what I mean. Anyway, do either of you have any idea as to where you can practice Fiendfyre?"

Remus thought for a minute, "There's one place, but there is a slight risk of being spotted."

"Why don't you have Sirius be the one to use the Fiendfyre and you keep a look out. With your heightened senses it should be easier that way." Hermione suggested, even though she was loath to even bring up an aspect of Remus' condition.

Remus didn't seem to mind, as he just nodded in agreement. "Alright, but I swear Sirius, goof off with the stuff one time and I'm putting you on watch duty."

Sirius put up his hands in defense, "Hey, I'm not an idiot."

With that statement, the group broke up to go about their business.

* * *

Harry was rather excited when he woke up for Christmas. Or, he would have been if he hadn't been woken up by Sirius emptying a bucket of ice water over his head and a loud shouting in his ear at six in the morning. He woke up swearing, but when he realized what had happened his swearing turned into a scowl. He dried himself off with a quick spell and shoved his glasses onto his face.

"I'm already blind, I don't need to be deaf too Sirius." He stretched out and noticed the pile of gifts sitting at the end of his bed. He noticed a small package at the bottom of the pile and went immediately for that one, knowing exactly what it was. "Finally, I've been waiting for this!"

He opened it and out spilled the silvery invisibility cloak that was so familiar to everyone in the room. "Your dad's cloak. That thing is amazing."

"You think I don't know that Sirius? I've owned this thing for over twenty years before I passed it on." Harry joked, and Sirius laughed,

"Oh, yeah. You just look so young and you have such a high voice I forget you're really almost forty, you old man." Despite knowing he was joking, Harry's temper flared slightly, but he shook it off quickly. Ron, however, seemed to take the insult as partially aimed at him.

"Well Sirius, I mean, yeah, we're young and have high voices, but we're going to grow into our voices and stuff, but you're gonna look old for the rest of your life." Harry burst out laughing, which wasn't helped by the look Sirius was giving Ron. It would have been terrifying to most others, but no one in the room seemed particularly affected. They all just seemed amused by it, if anything.

"Now, now, you wouldn't want to get in trouble for assaulting a minor, now would you?" Ron grinned, and Sirius just flopped onto one of the empty beds in the room. Ron moved forward on his bed and grabbed the present nearest to him. He opened it, revealing his Weasley sweater. He pulled it on over his head with a grin. He had become much more in tune with the importance of family as he got older and wasn't about to complain about the sweater. They opened the rest of their gifts, Harry and Ron both got a Dumbledore chocolate frog card and assorted sweets from Hermione, which both of them laughed at. As soon as Harry pulled on his on sweater, Fred and George walked in, each wearing a Weasley sweater, though not their own.

"Well hello ickle brother and his ickle friend!" Fred said with an ear to ear grin plastered across his face.

"And hello our fellow prankster and his pranking friend!" George said with an identical grin. Although their identity as the Marauders hadn't been revealed to the twins, they had figured out, from Snape's frequently changing hair, that Sirius had enjoyed a good prank or hundred back in his days at Hogwarts and had also roped Remus into at least a few of them.

"Hey look George, Harry's got a sweater too! His is nicer though. I guess mum puts more effort into them if you're not family." Harry chuckled at this, Ginny had told him later that she had made the sweater and put extra effort into it.

"But Fred, they don't have letters on theirs! I guess mum thinks they won't forget their names."

"But we're not stupid, we know we're called Forge,"

"And Gred!" The twins exclaimed, and Sirius burst out laughing, they got along real well, much to the dismay of the Professors. Just then, Percy walked in, sweater not on, but in hand.

"Percy! Why don't you put on your sweater? It's all nice and cozy!" George asked, and Percy scowled, as if he had no time for such frivolous things. Fred and George had different ideas, however, and marched over to him. George grabbed his sweater from his hands, and Fred grabbed the other side, pulling it on over their older brother's head before he could make a move to stop them.

"Look, 'P' for Prefect! Mum is so proud of ickle Percykins!" Fred commented once the sweater was pulled down. With his arms pinned to his sides by the sweater, Fred and George then frog marched him out of the room, followed closely by the rest of the group.

"And you're not sitting with the Prefects today." Fred stated, he sounded serious, but the constant undertone of humor in his voice was still there.

"Yeah, I mean, Christmas is for family. If you don't spend Christmas with your family, then there's really no point in the thing, is there?" Ron nodded in agreement, knowing full well the truth in the statement.

"Besides Percy." Harry started, thinking about what he had said to Malfoy earlier, "Family is forever, friends and schoolwork come and go." Percy looked at Harry, probably wondering where an eleven year old came up with that.

"Oh, very well, I guess I'll sit with you." He sounded like he really didn't want to, but Harry and Ron caught the smile he was trying to hide. Hopefully this was only the beginning of Percy realizing the true importance of family.

* * *

After dinner, where Harry had received some rather interesting hats and a chess set. When everyone had left, Harry pulled Ron off to the side, making sure that no one was around and checking with the spell that had quickly become second nature to them. It was clear, so Harry started talking.

"We need to talk to the twins. If they keep teasing him at every chance, especially about his dedication to his work. That's the whole reason he left last time, and if he starts feeling like his dreams aren't being appreciated like last time, it's going to happen all over again. And I don't think I could watch that happen to your parents again.

"Yeah, Mum especially was distraught, and I don't think I'll be able to stop myself from punching him this time. I don't know how in the world I stopped myself last time, it wasn't like I was the king of self control, at any point in my life."

Harry laughed "I wasn't exactly the picture of self control myself, it's probably why we're friends." He glanced around again, "Anyway, we should probably go upstairs, before we get busted for still being out."

Ron nodded and followed Harry out of the Hall and to the Gryffindor Common Room.

What they didn't realize, as they went to bed for a night of deep, unworried sleep, was that Severus Snape had walked in after the spell had been cast, and had heard nearly every word.

* * *

 **There's your chapter, I felt this needed SOME drama.**

 **EDIT: Oh dear god. This chapter was so unbelievably short, I added over four hundred words and it still falls short of my usual 2000 words. I would add more, but I don't want to alter the story too much, because that would cause more problems than it's worth.**


	8. Accomplished the Impossible

**I now bring you, another chapter of this book. Also, don't worry about those EDIT notes at the bottom. I've just been editing the original before posting it here.**

* * *

Severus Snape was inside his office in the dungeons. He was pacing, which wasn't unusual, but what he pacing about was. He couldn't be sure of what he had heard, but it put him on edge. What was Potter talking about, 'last time'? He would have to tell Albus, of course. But he didn't want to bring his suspicions to the Headmaster until he was quite sure what he had heard. But one thing was for sure, something was off about Potter and his little gang of friends, they seemed to know too much and yet too little all at once. As if they were holding back.

As he paced, he replayed the conversation over and over in his head, Last time? This time? Voldemort returned? This last one especially worried him. It would be absolute mayhem if The Dark Lord returned, thousands would die, who knows what would happen? These thoughts helped him make up his mind. Even though he couldn't be certain, just the thought of the Dark Lord returning was enough to warn Albus about the conversation. Hopefully, he would have more to say on the subject.

* * *

"I have no idea what this means Severus. I am glad you came to me with this, though I had my suspicions, this confirms that there is more to their little trio than meets the eye. Keep a close watch on them, see if you can find out more." Albus said upon hearing Severus' report.

"Sir, why don't we just use Veriteserum?" Severus questioned, he had asked before, but Dumbledore waved off the suggestion then, as he did now.

"It's quite possible they are expecting it, they have dodged our every attempt to find out more from them so far. The other children reported that they are just as normal as they are, and their grades, with the exception of Miss Granger, are exceptionally ordinary. I do not want to risk using it on students if there is no need." Dumbledore responded, and Severus nodded reluctantly.

"Very well. I will keep an eye on them and try to figure out more."

"Thank you, Severus. And do try to be discreet." Severus again nodded and swept out of the room.

Dumbledore resumed the pacing he himself had been doing earlier. He had been trying to piece together this puzzle, but it proved more difficult than getting Severus to relinquish his grudge against James Potter.

* * *

The rest of break was uneventful, the Granger girl had gone home for break and Potter and Weasley spent most of their break with the Weasley twins, doing what they did best; causing trouble. They were told off multiple times by various teachers for bewitching snowballs to be thrown at the back of Professor Quirrell's head. It seemed that they were just students that were naturally suspect.

Just as Severus was about to admit that there was nothing special about the trio, during his first Potions lesson with the Slytherins and Gryffindors, he overheard the Weasley boy talking, but before he could deduct points, he heard the words future and Voldemort, and Granger threw him a dirty look. He was so distracted by this he forgot to take away points.

Severus briefly entertained the thought of time travel, but quickly dismissed it, as time travel didn't alter appearance in any way, and the most anyone had ever time traveled was six hours, which wouldn't explain their behavior. However, this was his only lead thus far, so he decided to look into it.

* * *

While in the library, checking out books for a Charms report, Hermione noticed Snape in a barren section of the library that she herself had only been in once or twice. He grabbed a few books and left, without noticing Hermione hiding behind the bookshelf on the other side. When she was sure he wouldn't be returning, Hermione ran over to the section he was in. She quickly noticed the mostly empty shelf, he had taken most of the books in the row, but she saw one that worried her. It was a small volume, easily missed since it was in the wrong spot between two larger books, but the title was disconcerting. The Future of Time Travel.

She picked up the book, wondering why Snape would be looking into time travel. He had never shown interest before. Then she remembered the comment Ron had made in Potions class and knew exactly why Snape was looking into time travel. She flipped through the volume and saw that it was mostly theoretical, but there were a few parts that made her suspicious. She knew she wouldn't be able to get it out of the library, as she would have to check it out and anyone could see that she had checked it out. So she looked around and saw a gap between the shelf and the brick wall.

She slid the book as far back as she could, hoping no one would notice it. The gap was just big enough for the book, so it seemed perfect.

* * *

She made her way to the Gryffindor common room and saw Harry and Ron sitting at one of the chess boards in an intense game of wizard's chess. She grabbed Ron by the ear and pulled him up.

"OI!" he shouted, but Hermione ignored him and the looks of the seventh years sitting around the fireplace.

"Room. Now." Both of them understood, Harry grabbed his father's cloak and they set off, making it to the Room of Requirement before Hermione hit Ron's arm.

"You just HAD to make a smart remark about Snape's class, didn't you?" She asked, furious.

"Woah, 'Mione, calm down! What's the matter?" Ron asked, grabbing Hermione's wrists.

Hermione took a deep breath, attempting to calm herself. "Snape. Because you had to make a smart remark about how boring his class is, Snape is researching time travel. If he figures out what happened, then he's going to tell Dumbledore, and you know he'll want to make sure that we're being responsible about this and insist we consult him on everything. We'll never get what we need to get done, done if that happens. The man's brilliant, but he can't predict the future." She was starting to get worked up again.

"Bloody hell! I didn't mean it like that, it was supposed to be a joke! I didn't think he'd overhear it!"

"Ron, with Snape and Dumbledore suspicious of us already, maybe we should all think more carefully about what we would be joking about as eleven year-olds, and not what we joke about in here. Besides, this might not be all Ron's fault, I had mentioned the future outside of closed quarters myself. I checked, but I can't be positive no one heard." Harry pointed out, trying to play moderator. "But, if I know Snape as well as I think I do, he'll confront me first. He was always looking for reasons to taunt me with expulsion. If he does, I'll threaten him right back."

"What'll you threaten him with? A bath? It's not like you can tell everyone about him fancying your mum." Ron pointed out.

"No, no one would believe it if I told them. They would, however, believe it if Fred and George told them. I wouldn't like it, but I would do it if it meant keeping our secret."

"Harry, you do realize if you tell everyone this, especially through the twins, you're going to be taunted again." Hermione warned.

"I know. But I'm used to that, between my fourth and fifth year, I'm used to that. Even now, Skeeter finds any reason she can to try and knock my reputation. I can deal with it if it comes down to it. Besides, for me, it'll eventually die down, for Snape, he'll have to live knowing his deepest secret is no longer secret." Hermione sighed with defeat.

"Alright, but only if it comes down to that."

"That's the only reason I would pull that card. I have no other use for it."

* * *

The trio was more careful around Snape and Dumbledore for the rest of the year, hoping their suspicions would be quelled. Around mid-June, right before final exams, Sirius came bounding up to the trio outside the Great Hall with Remus walking calmly behind.

Sirius gave Harry a hug and whispered in his ear,"We can do it now. I've got it down pat."

Harry smiled and nodded, and he ran to the Gryffindor common room, grabbed his cloak, and went to the Room of Requirement under it. Once inside, he loaded all of the Horcruxes into a bag and went back to the common room, dropping off his cloak. He brought the bag to Sirius and Remus and handed it over."Careful. Be quick about it though."

Sirius and Remus nodded. They talked for a few minutes before they both had to leave to take care of the bag. After they left, Harry remembered what happened during his actual first year, "Guys, you do realize that our last day of final exams is on Friday, right?"

He gave them a pointed look. Hermione caught on a gasped, then she covered it up with babbling about all the studying she still had to do, while Ron groaned at the mere mention of exams, though he too had caught on.

* * *

Finals came and went and the trio was pleased, not only because they had no more work to do, but also because Snape was looking more and more frustrated, which meant he was getting nowhere with his quest to discover their secrets.

After the last final of the year, the trio found themselves sitting under the shade of the tree next to the lake, relaxing and joking about all the freedom they had now that finals were over. This, however, was a cover. They were actually talking about what they were going to do about Quirrell's attempt at stealing the stone tonight. On one hand, Quirrell wouldn't be able to get to the stone no matter what he tried, but on the other, failing now would only mean he would try again later. They could put a total stop to it now.

Hermione was dead set against it. She said that when Quirrell failed tonight, Dumbledore would probably know and get rid of Quirrell right away. Ron countered saying that that wouldn't get Voldemort off of the back of Quirrell's head and they should put him out of his misery. Harry sided with Ron on this one. He felt a bit bad for him, he had fallen victim to Voldemort's words, like so many before him. Quirrell just succumbed in the worst way possible. After Harry pointed that out, Hermione reluctantly agreed to help them.

* * *

Because the trio had kept Neville out of the loop concerning anything about the stone, he hadn't tried to stop them again. But what did happen was much worse. They had had to detour to the second floor because of the staircases, so when they were walking up the stairs towards the third floor, Ron missed the false step, and fell backward, knocking into Hermione who had been behind him, and pulling Harry with him as he tried to regain his balance.

They tumbled down the stairs. They were all fine, but when they looked up, they looked right into the face of Severus Snape.

* * *

 **Back to the chapters being a decent length.**

 **~PH**


	9. Oh Snap(e)!

**Eh, em. On to the next chapter!**

* * *

Harry's head jerked up, and his emerald eyes met Snape's cold, beetle black ones. Everyone was momentarily frozen in shock. Snape recovered first.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? Students out of bed?"

"I-" The three of them scrambled up and backed as far away as they could, which wasn't that far.

"Save it, Potter. Come with me, all of you."

"But Professor, I can't. See, we're in the middle of something important and we need to get going." Hermione and Ron tried to hide their amused expressions. While Snape had been redeemed as someone who had done the right thing in the end, that didn't erase the fact that he was a massive git, especially to Harry.

Snape's mouth twitched and his eyebrow raised. He was clearly hiding his anger. "Oh, may I ask what you are so busy with that you feel the need to break the rules? Or is it the simple need to emulate your no good father?"

Harry thought he deserved that one, but he had long since acknowledged that his father had been a prat. But he changed, Snape didn't. "Don't talk about my father that way. He was ten times the man you'll ever be." Harry said, his temper flaring. This caused Snape eyes to blaze with anger, though Harry was unfazed. He was far too used to that expression from Snape. As if his continued defiance enraged Snape even more, the man snapped, sending a curse flying towards Harry. But Harry had been expecting it and was able to block it.

Snape, however, was not expecting to have a spell of any sort thrown back at him. So when Harry sent a stunning spell Snape's way, it hit its mark. Snape collapsed onto the ground in a heap.

"I really didn't want to do this. Far too Lockhart for my taste, but I'm not risking it. Obliviate." he wiped the last thirty minutes from Snape's mind and turned to Ron and Hermione, "We better go, and this time Ron, be a little more careful, please." It came out ruder than he had meant it, but his temper hadn't calmed just yet.

Ron turned red to his ears and rubbed the back of his neck, "Sorry, I don't know how I missed it."

Harry sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose,"It's fine. We all have." He picked up the cloak and threw it back over them. There was really nothing they could do with Snape, besides get this over with quickly and get back to him to make sure he didn't tell Dumbledore about their actions. They carefully made their way up the stairs, jumping over the step this time.

"So, who's going first this time?" Harry asked once they reached the third-floor corridor.

"As long as Hermione doesn't lose her head again, I will." Ron replied, giving Hermione a sly smile. Hermione replied by hitting Ron upside the head.

"Thank you for volunteering, but I thought it was ladies first." Ron blushed and Harry couldn't help but sigh.

"Fine. I'll go first again. Here's the flute Hermione, just keep playing." Harry said, handing over the instrument, which Hermione took. "Let's go."

The trio entered the room and Hermione started playing, which made the wide awake Fluffy fall back into a deep slumber in seconds. Harry carefully moved the beast's paw from the trapdoor and opened it, dropping down into the first chamber. The Devil's Snare started wrapping around him as soon as he landed. Ron landed shortly after he did, and Hermione followed. They relaxed and dropped through the vines onto the floor below.

"That Devil's Snare is a nasty piece of work." Ron said as they walked to the next chamber, they got there and Harry pulled his shrunken broom from his pocket, and unshrunk it. He took off, one eye already on the key with the broken wing. In just a few minutes, Harry had caught hold of the key and was landing on the ground. Harry reshrank his broom, before unlocking the door and they traveled to the next room. Upon seeing the chess set, Hermione pulled Ron into a hug and kissed his cheek,

"Don't get hurt this time. please."

"I'll try." With those encouraging words, they took to the board. With Ron as their leader, they managed to play with much more confidence than they had previously. He lead the charge, but it seemed as if the board changed tactics depending on the skill level of the player, as it was matching Ron's moves left and right. But Ron eventually got the upper hand and won the game without injury.

When they stepped off the board, Hermione flung her arms around Ron, thankful he didn't have to sacrifice himself. They made their way to the troll, which had started to regain consciousness. Ron stepped forward before the other two could. Just as the troll got to its knees, Ron knocked it out again.

They passed through another corridor and came up to the room that separated Snape's riddle from the rest of the room. Harry and Hermione were the ones to step forward this time.

"Stay here Ron. I'll help Harry with this potion riddle and there's only enough for one to go back through the flames." Ron nodded and stayed back while Harry and Hermione entered to potion room. They walked through the door and flames shot up behind them, blocking them from Ron's view. Hermione ran forward toward the potions, where a scroll was waiting with the riddle. Harry watched as Hermione's eyes darted back and forth, reading and rereading the riddle.

Finally, she picked up the smallest bottle and handed it to Harry, "Here, this is to get you to the next room." She picked up the rounded bottle at the other end, "This is for me. Stay safe Harry."

"Hermione, I need you and Ron to go back and deal with Snape. Take him to the Room of Requirement if you have to. Just keep him out of Dumbledore's reach for a while. That obliviate was weak, so it won't hold if Dumbledore tries to reverse it." Hermione grimaced, but nodded and gave Harry a hug.

"We'll meet you in the room, okay?" Harry nodded and watched as she drank the potion and went back to Ron. Harry stepped up to the flames on the opposite side and drank his potion, the chill of ice seeped throughout his body, and he stepped through the flames to have a chat with Quirrell.

"Ahh, Mr. Potter I should have figured you would get her eventually. You seem to be able to find everything in this school. Quite the accomplishment for a first year such as yourself." Quirrell said, still facing the Mirror.

"Yeah, well, that happens. Though, with Voldemort on the back of your head, your probably pretty savvy finding your way around the school, aren't you?" Harry said, his impulsiveness getting the best of him.

"Oh? So you did figure out my little secret, I hadn't expected that. Of course, it's a shame you won't be able to share your knowledge with anyone. Though I'll have to take care of Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley after I've finished with you I presume." With that, Quirrell tried to bind Harry, but Harry used his wand to loosen the ropes slightly. He had to bide his time before he had Quirrell actually attacking him.

After several minutes of trying to get the stone, Voldemort realized only Harry could get the stone from the mirror. Or so he thought, as when Harry looked in the Mirror of Erised, he saw his family. His kids, in-laws, and everyone else laughing and smiling together. His greatest desire, family. He faced Quirrell.

"Sorry Quirrell, but I don't see the stone at all. I see my family." Quirrell drew his wand to threaten Harry again, but he lunged and grabbed Quirrell's face. Apparently, a couple years, a basilisk bite, Triwizard, and countless other things raised his pain tolerance, so, fortunately, he was able to stay conscious after the ordeal. Unfortunately, he saw the whole thing as well, and it was an experience he did not wish to repeat.

As quickly as he could, Harry made his way back through the rooms and up the trapdoor. It was times like this he really wished he had the map from the Weasley twins already. He planned on asking them for it soon, but he figured they were in more need of it for now. Then he remembered what he had told Hermione and cast a rather weak disillusionment charm on himself as he made his way through the halls as quickly and quietly as possible.

When he got to the Room of Requirement, Ron and Hermione were sitting on a couch to the side of Snape, who looked none too happy, most likely because he had been tied to a chair.

As soon as he saw Harry, his eyes narrowed, "You're as much like your father as I warned Professor Dumbledore you would be. You three won't be out of detention for the rest of the year if you don't get expelled."

"Don't talk that way about my father. At least he changed, unlike you. You've been nothing but nasty to me since day one, just because I look like my father."

"Harry." Hermione chided, "Get to the point."

"Right. Now, while you apparently know very little about my father, you know even less about me, and I'd prefer to keep it that way; but I know you've been snooping around. All you need to know is that if you don't back off, I'll let the whole school know that you've vowed to keep me safe because you loved my mum and got her killed."

"How do you-"

"I'm not as ignorant as you think I am. Now, I have all night to sit here and wait for you to agree to keep your mouth shut. But I know more than just you and my mum's friendship."

After an hour of Snape being stubborn and not a word said by any of them, he finally agreed to keep his mouth shut and to stop looking around, even if his suspicions had just been increased ten-fold. Just before he walked out, Harry stopped him.

"Oh, and we will know if you tell Dumbledore. But you've always been a good actor, it should be easy for you to keep it a secret." Snape's eyes narrowed before he sent another loathing look the trio's way and swept out of the Room like the overgrown bat so many compared him to.

Harry nearly collapsed onto the couch, he was so exhausted. Ron and Hermione were staring at him, it wasn't often that they saw this side of him. The side that had earned him the position of Head Auror after less than ten years on the force. It was the reason Ron had been content to leave it for Fred and George's shop. But Harry seemed to become a completely different person in interrogation.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked, obviously concerned.

Harry waved her off, "Yeah. It's just been a while since I've had to interrogate anyone. It's a bit jarring."

"Well, Snape seemed to be affected by it too. He probably recognized the techniques from when he got interrogated back in the day."

"I'm sure. Remember when back in the day meant when we were eleven?"

Ron nodded, "I always did say I missed the good old days, but I didn't mean I wanted to be thrown back into them."

"As much as I would love to sit here all night reminiscing," Hermione interrupted, "I wouldn't put it past Snape to be waiting outside waiting to give us detention."

Ron laughed, "No, neither would I. I'll grab the cloak."

He grabbed the cloak and pulled it over all three of them. "At least we all fit under this comfortably again."

* * *

 **~PH**


	10. Ginny's Part of the Story Again

**More random updates, Fanfiction was being weird about my copy pasting so I had to go through different channels to get this done.**

* * *

After that, the trio avoided Snape whenever possible, which was pretty easy considering they were done with classes. When the feast came around, everyone was ready to leave.

"Do you think we'll get more points again this year? I mean, Dumbledore isn't our biggest fan at the moment." Ron questioned,

"Most likely. With Voldemort still in the picture, I'm still the 'Chosen One' or whatever, so Dumbledore needs me to like him and trust him so I'll do what he needs me to, which means helping me win the House Cup in his eyes." Harry responded.

"And we care so much about winning the house cup." Ron said, referring to some of the pranks they had pulled with the twins (who later admitted that Ron and Harry actually had some good ideas, and were grateful for Hermione stopping some of the bigger pranks from backfiring.) meaning they all lost points whenever they got caught. The end result of that was that Gryffindor had one of the lowest scores the House had ever seen, with one hundred and seventy points, even without Harry and Hermione being caught trying to smuggle Norberta away.

"Well the cup is rather pointless once you realize it's just a way to get students to behave themselves. I suppose it is effective for the most part though." Hermione admitted.

"At least we managed to win the Quidditch cup. Having twenty points would have been embarrassing, no matter the worth of the points." Ron said. Since Harry wasn't in the hospital wing for the rest of the year following the sorcerer's stone debacle, he was able to play in the last Quidditch game, bringing Gryffindor to victory and Wood to promise to give them an extra day off every month next year, which made the team even happier.

They finally got to the Great Hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table next to Neville, who was laughing and joking about Snape looking even more sour than usual. After a few minutes, Dumbledore started in on who won the House Cup.

"However, there are a few last minute points to award." Harry groaned, knowing exactly what was going to happen.

"To Mr. Ronald Weasley, for the best played game of chess in Hogwarts History, I award fifty points!" Ron hit his head on the table, awarding points for a well played game of chess was ridiculous.

"To Ms. Hermione Granger, for using cool logic in the face of fire and danger, I award fifty points!" Hermione laughed, she knew full well she wasn't in danger.

"To Mr. Harry Potter, for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor sixty points!" Harry groaned, without Slytherin winning the Quidditch cup, Gryffindor still had more points than Slytherin. Though Harry suspected Dumbledore would have given even more if necessary to give Gryffindor the win. The rest of the House seemed pretty excited, though Fred and George were disappointed they hadn't gotten the lowest point total in Gryffindor history.

Harry decided to ignore the blatant favoritism and enjoy the feast, they only happened a few times a year and for a short period of time, so Harry figured he should just eat the food and not complain. He made sure to grab an extra helping of treacle tart, Hogwarts had the best.

After the feast, everyone went to their common rooms to finish packing before having to board the train. Harry and Ron had put this off to the very last minute of course, and had to speed pack to get everything before the house-elves came to pick it up. As usual, they got the letter saying they couldn't use magic over the summer.

"I always hope they forget to give these to us." Fred commented, and Harry nodded.

"It would be really useful if I could use magic on the Dursley's. It could make life there a whole lot more interesting." The trio started walking towards the train as they talked.

"At least you get to bunk with Sirius after what? A week?" Ron said.

"Yeah, I think I'd go nuts if I had to live with the Dursley's any longer than that."

"Just don't let Sirius get to you, I think I'd go nuts if I had two immature friends."

"I'm just a friend? I'm hurt." Ron whispered to her, and Hermione rolled her eyes and shoved him.

"You know what I mean. Besides, we aren't married in this time, I can always change my mind. Maybe I'll steal Neville from Hannah." She teased with a smile, and as she walked away Ron stopped short and stared at her with wide eyes. Harry chuckled and put his hand on Ron's shoulder,

"You were the one that tried to help the elves." He followed Hermione down the hall.

"Hey! Wait up!" Ron said, running up to them as they laughed.

"Don't worry, Ron. I wouldn't do that to Hannah." Ron stood flabbergasted again, and had to run to catch up again.

"Sorry Ron. I couldn't resist." Then she whispered, "I do love you though." Ron smiled,

"Me too." Ron wanted to wrap his arm around her, but knew that would seem strange to everyone else. So resisted the urge, instead bumping into her, making her stumble into Harry, who pushed her back into Ron, who was about to push her back, but she stepped back and Ron fell into Harry. They stumbled into the wall and they all burst out laughing.

"Come on, we better go catch the train." Hermione said, pulling the two of them off the wall. They hurried down to the train and when they finally reached it, they boarded quickly and found an empty compartment.

"I am so ready to get my week at the Dursleys over with, so I can go to Sirius'."

"You're just saying that because you'll be able to go to the Burrow to see Ginny." Hermione said, and Harry shrugged.

"Hey, you can't blame me. You two got to spend the entire year together. We haven't been apart this long since we went 'camping'." Hermione nodded,

"Maybe you should have gone to the Burrow for Christmas."

"They went to Romania to visit Charlie, remember?"

"Oh right, I forgot."

"Probably because you left us behind to go skiing or something." Ron said.

"I couldn't tell them I was staying behind for my friends I just meet." She pointed out, and Ron humphed.

"Whatever." They spent the rest of the train ride talking, and when they arrived at King's Cross, they got off the train and ran to the barrier with their things, where they were ushered out one at a time, so they wouldn't draw attention from the muggles. They were met by the Weasleys and the Dursleys, who seemed much happier knowing they would only have to put up with Harry for a week.

"I'll see you guys soon." Harry told them, and as he passed, Harry and Ginny tapped each other with three fingers, their code for "I love you".

* * *

His week at the Dursleys was uneventful, he mostly wandered the neighborhood. He talked to Mrs. Figg occasionally, though he would decline going in her house at all, saying he needed to get home. When Sirius finally came to pick him up a week later, the Dursleys practically threw them out the door, and Sirius brought them to a small house, in an area Harry recognized.

"You bought a house by the Burrow?" He asked, incredulous.

"Of course. I figure you're going to want to hang out with them anyway. Besides, I know you and Ginny get together, no point in separating you more than necessary."

Harry smiled, "Thanks Sirius. You know, I've realized, I'm older than you, technically, right?"

"Which is weird beyond words, but yes."

"Agreed, but don't treat me like a kid. I'm glad you decided to get a house out here, thanks for that. Just remember, in the house I'm your equal."

"Fine, but if we're in public, I have to act like your responsible fatherly figure. To everyone else, you're eleven, twelve years old, and if I don't keep some sort of authority in the public eye, I'll be in trouble."

"Fine. But any 'punishments' you give me, don't hold."

"All right, all right. Fine. I'll be your guardian only in the legal sense."

"Shake on it?"

"What are you, five?"

"No, I'm thirty-eight. Now shake." Sirius rolled his eyes but shook Harry's hand.

"Happy?"

"Yes. I'm gonna go over to the Weasley's house."

"I'll come with you. I'm still trying to explain what a rubber duck does to Arthur." Harry laughed, remembering what Mr. Weasley had asked him his first day at the Burrow. They walked down the lane to the Weasley house, and knocked on the door. Mrs. Weasley answered a moment later.

"Oh! Harry dear, I'm so glad you were able to come! Come on in Sirius, Arthur will be home in a few minutes." Sirius smiled and Harry thanked her before walking in. He found Ron and Ginny in the kitchen, eating some sandwiches.

"Hey Ron. Hi Ginny." They waved at him.

"Want some sandwiches? Mum used her special jam, it's delicious." Ginny said, offering Harry a sandwich, which he gladly accepted. He took a bite,

"This is great. Thanks Mrs. Weasley!" He told her as she walked through the room.

"Thank you, I made the jam myself."

Ginny finished her sandwich and asked if they could go out to play Quidditch.

"Yes dear, just be careful, and don't fly too high."

"Thanks! FRED! GEORGE! WANNA COME PLAY QUIDDITCH?" Ron shouted up the stairs, and the twins came running down.

"Of course we do! Let's go." They ran ahead and the rest followed quickly behind them. The twins had already grabbed their brooms from the shed and were almost to the Weasley's orchard when they reached the shed. Ron grabbed one of the old brooms and walked out, leaving Ginny and Harry alone.

"I missed you." They said at the same time, then they laughed and shared a quick kiss before running out with brooms.

"Come on, let's hurry before we get slack from the twins." Harry said, and they ran to catch up to the twins, who were wary about their sister playing. They quickly changed their tune when she threatened to tell Mrs. Weasley about a prank they had played a week before the end of the school year.

It was a long game and they eventually lost track of the score, since they kept switching teams mid-play. It was decided that Ginny had scored the most goals, so she won Fred's dessert as reward.

"You were the one who bet you could score more goals than me."

"I still think you cheated. Since when can you play Quidditch?"

"What do I think you do while you're at school? Make bread with Mum?" Harry laughed,

"I dunno, I would probably help out your mum. Your house smells delicious when she bakes."

"You're just a suck up. Though, making bread gives you massive muscles." Ginny said, flexing.

"I thought you didn't make bread Gin-Gin." Fred said, laughing.

"I never said I never did." Ginny told him, "And don't call me Gin-Gin. It's worse than Ginerva. Though, At least it's not something like Nymphadora. That would be dreadful."

"I think I'd change my name, wouldn't you George?" George rolled his eyes,

"I dunno. It's more unique than George. It would definitely be nice to be able to tag our pranks with more unique names." Fred laughed as they walked through the door of the Burrow, where Sirius was patiently explaining what a TV was. Harry snickered as Sirius stifled a groan when Arthur asked what a cartoon was.

"Sirius, will you and Harry be staying for supper?"

"We would be nuts to turn down a home cooked meal from you, Molly!" Sirius said, smiling.

"That would be great Mrs. Weasley. I'm starving and Sirius is a terrible cook."

"Hey!" Mrs. Weasley smiled at the two of them,

"Okay, well why don't you head upstairs, supper will be ready in half an hour." Harry nodded and followed the Weasley children upstairs. Fred and George waved good-bye at their door, saying they had something they had to check on. Harry suspected that they were working on Wheezes even now.

The last three continued to the top of the stairs to Ron's room. As soon as Ron closed the door, Ginny threw her arms around Harry and gave him a kiss.

"Aw come on, do you have to?" Ron protested.

"Ron, you have no room to talk. You did the exact thing with Hermione the second we entered the Room of Requirement." Harry told him.

"That's different!" Ron argued, and Ginny hit him in the arm,

"It is not and you know it. It's the same exact thing." Ron crossed his arms.

"So, since Ron's being a prat, what ended up happening this year? Did you go after Quirrell? And how did hiding the big secret from Dumbledore go?"

"We went after Quirrell, and I managed to stay conscious this time, but I don't think that Dumbledore is our biggest fan at the moment. I didn't exactly follow the path he laid out for us, we just kinda waited til the last second to go after Quirrell."

"Harry! We were supposed to lay low!"

"We did! We just laid a little too low, I guess, I wasn't as curious as Dumbledore thought I would be."

"Yeah, the only reason you didn't investigate is you know exactly what's going on. Which brings up the difficult topic of this year; what are we going to do? I'm certainly not gonna give my mind up to Riddle again."

"No, you won't. When we get the diary, we'll give it to Remus and Sirius, who will burn it."

"Then we're just going to have a Basilisk slithering around under the school."

"A Basilisk who only obeys the command of an heir of Slytherin, and it doesn't seem like Voldemort's going to be having any kids anytime soon, so I think it'll be out of luck."

"I don't know. Something's bothering me about the snake... Leaving it seems too easy. We have to do something, anything that big won't stay sleeping forever. It's going to need to eat eventually, and I don't want it to be in twenty years when our kids are in school."

"You think I do? But what are we going to do? We can't exactly tell Dumbledore there's a Basilisk hiding in a part of the school only a few people believe exists."

"The only thing we can do is go down there." Ron said, "I mean, we can't leave it there and we can't tell anyone, so we're gonna have to get rid of it ourselves." Harry was about to respond when he heard Mrs. Weasley call from down the stairs,

"Boys! Ginny! Supper's ready!"

"COMING MUM!" Ginny shouted, "We can talk about this later, and ask Hermione what she thinks." Harry and Ron agreed and they ran down the stairs, and Harry was excited to have another Weasley home cooked meal.

As they sat down at the table, Harry noticed Sirius with his head on the table,

"What happened?"

Sirius leaned over and whispered to him,"Next time, you talk to Arthur."

Harry rolled his eyes and sat down next to him, with Ron on his other side and Ginny across from him. It was almost like coming back home, though Ginny usually sat next to him. The best part was when Ginny accidentally put her elbow in the butter, and Harry gave her a look saying, I'll never let you live this down. Which just made Ron laugh and Sirius nudged Harry suggestively, much to Ginny's chagrin.

* * *

 **Yeah! Finally finished! anyway, thanks for all the support you have given me, this story is more popular than I ever thought it would be! Don't forget to vote and leave comments!**

 **EDIT: This chapter was actually pretty good, it was mostly just a few grammatical errors. Also, you can mostly ignore these notes. They were relvant on the Wattpad version, I promise.**

 **~PH**


	11. Strange Happenings

**Sorry it took so long for this update. Holidays and then school and such got in the way. But I should be back to more regular updates again.**

* * *

The next few weeks passed too quickly in Harry's opinion. He played Quidditch with the Weasleys almost everyday, and they had gotten a response from Hermione, who suggested they talk in Diagon Alley when they went to pick up supplies. She was going on Wednesday as it was her only option with her parents work schedule, so it would be best to go then.

That Wednesday came quickly, and as they had gotten their lists a while ago Mrs. Weasley was eager to get to Diagon Alley to get all of their supplies before the pre-week rush to get to all the stores before school. Harry just hoped they would still run into the Malfoys so they could get the diary from Lucius. Of course, that also meant Lockhart would be there which meant unneeded publicity for Harry, but that wasn't as important as the diary.

They took the Floo to Diagon Alley, and luckily Harry had a bit more experience and managed to make it there without taking a detour. Harry waited at the Leaky Cauldron for the rest of the family. It took a while for all of them to get through, but once they did Mrs. Weasley was quick to hurry them out into Diagon Alley to get their supplies. But as soon as they stepped out of the Leaky Cauldron, Ron and Harry were nearly thrown off their feet by a head of bushy brown hair.

"Woah, how did you know it was us, Hermione?" Ron teased as he regained his balance. Hermione just gave him a look before introducing her parents and joining them down the alley.

Mrs. Weasley got right down to business, "Ginny, dear. Let's go get you your supplies and wand. Ron, you better come too."

Harry had pulled some strings and made a large anonymous donation on the condition that the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts workers get substantial raises, with Ginny and Ron's permission of course. Arthur was completely shocked by this development, but excited nonetheless. This allowed Ginny to get her wand and helped Ron convince his parents that he needed a new wand, as his current one was Charlie's and the unicorn hair that was poking out from the tip was more pronounced than ever.

While Ron and Ginny, joined by Harry and Hermione, went to go get their wands the twins met up with Lee Jordan to go to Gambol and Japes to spend their summer savings on prank products and Percy went to a small junk shop to immerse himself in nick-knacks and books. Percy was more like Mr. Weasley than any of the Weasleys, he just hid it under ambition.

After Ollivanders, Ginny went to get new robes and the trio went to get potion supplies.

"So, Hermione." Ron said as they walked away, new wand in hand. "Something strange happened. We were up early the other day and mum just started yelling at the twins and me about the flying car. Except, we didn't drive the car at all. We didn't need to because Harry didn't get locked up."

"I've no idea. I haven't noticed anything strange myself. Perhaps your dad moved the car and your mum figured you took it out." Hermione guessed as she grabbed a jar of horned slugs and beetle eyes.

"Okay, I'm already ready to get to Hogwarts. We'll have to start avoiding Dumbledore again but at least we'll have to room to talk in private again." Hermione agreed and grabbed a jar of pickled newt tails.

"We better hurry. If we want that diary, then we're going to have to time it just right." Ron nodded and helped grab a few more things and they left. Ginny was waiting for them with Mrs. Weasley, new robes in hand. Everyone else met up with them a minute later and they started heading for the book shop.

Mrs. Weasley sighed as she saw the line to the shop. They stepped into the line out the door, and Mrs. Weasley's annoyance quickly changed to happiness as she realized they were lined up for a book signing with the one and only; Gilderoy Lockhart.

"Oh my! That explains it! We must get his autograph. Why, he must have written half the book list." Mrs. Weasley gushed, "Come now, we must get going now!"

It didn't take long once they got into the store for Lockhart to spot Harry. His face lit up in the smile that he was so quick to remind people won several best smile awards.

"Harry Potter? Why, it couldn't be!" he shouted, and Harry groaned and tried to duck out of sight, but Lockhart had already spotted him, and was determined to pull him forward. The Weasleys made no attempt to help him, in fact it seemed as if Fred and George gave him a shove forward. He looked back and glared at them as Lockhart pulled him next to him.

"Come on, nice big smile now, this is for the Prophet! What an extraordinary opportunity we have here! Come on Harry, big smile!" Lockheart went on to tell everyone that he would be teaching at Hogwarts and gave Harry some books. Harry frowned, better just get this over with. He shrugged away from Lockheart,

"Sorry, but I really don't want to be in the paper." he turned to the photographer, "I better not see those pictures on any papers."

Suddenly, the drawling voice he loathed and yet was happy to hear came from behind him, "What Potter, you only take pictures if you get paid?"

"Shut up Malfoy." Harry snapped.

"Tut tut Mr. Potter, you should watch that temper." Lucius Malfoy had joined them and Arthur Weasley was quick to step forward, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Come on Harry, we should leave now."

"Why, if it isn't Arthur Weasley. I must say, I'm shocked to see you in a store." Mr. Weasley frowned and pulled Harry back again, but Lucius didn't stop. He grabbed an old, battered book from Ginny's cauldron and opened it,

"It seems even with that raise you can't afford decent things. What's the point of being a disgrace to wizards if you don't get paid well? If only you would keep better company." Malfoy said, glancing at the Grangers. Arthur snapped and tackled him to the ground,

"Get him dad!" Fred shouted,

"Knock him out!" George joined in, as Mrs. Weasley was shouting,

"No, Arthur, no!"

"Hey, Fred, five Galleons Hagrid wins this fight." Ron whispered to his brother, who shook on it and regretted it immediately, as Hagrid came in and pulled the two men apart.

"Aright, Aright, break it up." Lucius pulled himself from Hagrid's grip and scowled.

"Here, have your book. It's the best your father can afford." He stalked off with Draco following behind.

"You shouldn'a fought him Arthur. The Malfoys are rotten ter the core and ain't worth yer time or energy." Hagrid said, and he led the way out of the store with Mrs. Weasley close behind, yelling at Arthur for brawling in public.

* * *

By the time they got back to the Burrow, Harry knew that something was wrong. Mrs. Weasley had brought up the flying car again.

Fred and George even seemed guilty, and turned to Ron, "Maybe we should've just waited for dad to do something."

Ron shot Harry a worried look, something was definitely up and they didn't like it. When Harry got home, he gave the diary to Sirius, which Malfoy had, true to his personality, given to Ginny.

The next day, Harry wrote Hermione a letter, telling her what happened. He didn't hear back for a few days, and when she did it was only three words.

Wait until school.

Harry sighed and told Ron and Ginny, both of them grimaced, but agreed it was probably best to wait until they could talk face to face, and not risk any interception. So they waited it out and brainstormed themselves, until, finally, September 1st came. The typical Weasley tradition dictated that it took them until the very last minute to all get in the car and head to the station.

* * *

When they got there Harry asked Mrs. Weasley if he and Ron could go first. She looked slightly confused, but nodded. So Harry and Ron jogged up to the barrier, but apparently, Dobby was really set against letting Harry get to Hogwarts, because the barrier was sealed and the carts bumped into the wall.

Mrs. Weasley walked up to them, "What's wrong dears?"

"I dunno mum. The wall is solid, we can't get through." Mrs. Weasley frowned and tried pushing on the wall, but it was completely solid.

"Oh my, Harry. I'm sorry to ask, but I think I'm going to need to borrow your owl. I'm going to let the school know we can't get through. I just hope no one else is still stuck on this side." Harry nodded, and gave Mrs. Weasley a piece of parchment and a quill. Mrs. Weasley quickly wrote the note and sent it off with Hedwig.

They waited around for a long time, which was expected due to the distance from King's Cross to Hogwarts. The owl that returned was not Hedwig, but a Hogwarts owl. It held a letter from Professor Dumbledore.

I believed I should allow Harry's owl to rest, I hope you don't mind. Please, stay where you are, I will have Professors McGonagall and Flitwick come to get you. I will have someone check out the barrier, to ensure this doesn't happen again.

Mrs. Weasley sighed with relief, "Okay, okay, I suppose we should just wait then."

They waited for a few minutes, until Minerva McGonagall and Filius Flitwick appeared before them, "Alright, alright, let's make this quick, Mrs. Weasley, I will acquire your assistance. We are going to need to apparate to Hogsmeade. Each of us should be to take two people."

Harry and Ginny, who were the shortest and therefore the smallest, went with Flitwick. Fred and George went with their mother, and Percy and Ron went with McGonagall.

They all appeared safely in Hogsmeade, about a block from the school.

"Alright, we have it from here Mrs. Weasley, we better get these kids in quickly if they don't want to miss the feast!" Flitwick squeaked, and Mrs. Weasley nodded, thanked them, and walked off, probably to do some shopping in Hogsmeade while she was there.

Flitwick and McGonagall lead the group through the gates and towards the castle. It was a little earlier than when students usually started to arrive, but they waited in McGonagall's office until it was time for Ginny to join the other first years and everyone else to go down to the Great Hall to await the sorting.

After the first years walked in, Harry immediately spotted Ginny and Luna, who Ginny was standing near. He clapped loudly when Luna was sorted into Ravenclaw, and when it was Ginny's turn to be sorted Harry could have sworn he heard the hat sigh before it shouted Gryffindor.

The foursome didn't get to talk privately at all, but they knew something was up when Ron received a Howler from his mother about crashing a flying car and everyone in the hall laughed as if they had seen it coming. Hermione nearly fell out of her seat when it happened and Harry suspected she had an idea of what was happening.

So at the end of the day, after all their classes (Thankfully, they didn't have Defense Against the Dark Arts until Thursday.) the group met in the Room, and Hermione told them what she suspected was going on as soon as she knew the room was clear.

"I think the timeline is trying to fix itself."

* * *

 **Now, where will that take the story? Hm.**

 **~PH**


	12. Lockhart is a Stalker

**New chapter. Explanations.**

* * *

"Wait, what?" Ron asked, confused.

"Think about it. your mum is yelling at you for the flying car at home, sending you a Howler for something you didn't even do, at least this time around. I don't know how or why, but the time line knows something is wrong and is trying to right itself!" Hermione was pacing furiously as she talked.

"Why didn't it happen last year?" Harry asked, knowing they hadn't exactly stuck to those events.

"I'm not sure. But we might have been fixing it ourselves. Think about it, the biggest things that happened that year, at least pertaining us, was when the troll broke in and we became friends, when we lost all those points and had nearly half the school against us, and when we stopped Quirrell. We may not have done them in the right way, but those things all happened."

"Do you think that it's going to keep happening? That I'm going to be affected by the Horcrux even if it's been destroyed?" Ginny asked, fear flittered in her eyes and Harry put a comforting arm around her.

"I'm don't know, but I'm not going to let you get hurt." Harry told her.

Hermione, however, had a more realistic view. "It's definitely possible, but without an actual Horcrux I doubt you'll be very affected. But I do think we'll be seeing the petrifications happening again."

"I'm not letting you get petrified again." Ron said, pulling her into his side. She put her head in the crook of his neck.

"I'm not sure you'll be able to prevent it. I was out for a big chunk of the year, between that and the Polyjuice -." her eyes widened, "I swear, if I wake up as a cat in the middle of the night, I am going to hex you two." She pointed to Ron and Harry.

"Hey, you grabbed the cat hair." Harry defended himself and Ron.

"Yes, but you two were the ones that insisted on making the Polyjuice." she countered.

"You didn't have to make it. You could've said the book wasn't in the library or something. Ron and I barely went in the library before fifth year." Which was completely true, as Hermione well knew.

"I- you-" Harry realized he had won and grinned.

"I swear," Ginny said as she rolled her eyes, "you two are worse than the twins and Percy!"

Harry snorted, "No one is worse than Percy and the twins. I think the Dursleys can hear them fighting from here."

Ginny laughed and pulled her legs underneath her as Harry put his arm back around her. Then she got serious again.

"But really, what are we going to do if I some how do get possessed again, even without the diary? I can't just go around attacking people."

"I'm not sure." Hermione said, "We can always lock you to your bed."

"That would probably be a little suspicious."

"Tell them you sleepwalk." Ron suggested.

Harry chuckled, "That wouldn't even be a lie."

"It was one time and I was pregnant." Ginny defended herself.

"Okay, that was not something I needed to hear from my eleven year old sister's mouth." Ron gagged,

"As much as I would love to tell you to get over it, I kinda agree." Ginny sighed, "I swear to god I'm not mentioning being pregnant until I'm out of school again."

"That should be a general rule. No need to risk slip-ups." Harry agreed, then realized the time, "We should probably get back to the Common Room, before it gets too late and Ron gets caught putting another toe out of line. I didn't grab the cloak."

Ron flipped him off and mumbled something about stupid friends.

"I think that qualifies as a finger out of line Ron." Ginny snickered, and Ron gave her the same finger as Harry before they walked out of the Room with caution. On the way to the Gryffindor Common Room, they ran into Snape. He sneered when he saw them.

"My, my Potter, cutting it a little close, aren't you?"

"I suppose, but we can't get in trouble for walking the halls before curfew, can we?" Harry asked as Ginny laughed behind him.

"I see you've dragged the Weasley girl into this. Not a wise choice on her part."

"I have no idea what you're talking about. We were simply showing Ron's little sister around the school, since we seem to ow it so well. That isn't a crime, is it?" Snape's lip started to curl and Harry looked at a clock nearby, "Well, we better get going. Best not be walking around school after dark."

The foursome finished the walk to Gryffindor Tower, and gave the password ("Gillyweed") to the Fat Lady and walked through the portrait hole.

"My god Harry. If you don't give Snape an aneurysm before the end of the school year, I will be shocked." Ginny said with a laugh.

"If he wasn't such a git I wouldn't react so badly to him. Besides, its not like he can hurt me, not with Dumbledore around." They moved to sit by the fire. Harry would have loved to put his arm around her, but they agreed it would be better to wait until at least the Yule Ball to start dating, anytime before that would be suspicious, and the same went with Ron and Hermione. Harry just hoped that wouldn't translate into arguing.

The group sat in silence, finishing the small amount of homework they had gotten before they all went to bed. Harry passed out as soon as his head hit the pillow, and dreamed through the night. This heavily contrasted Ginny, who was laying awake in her bed. She had gotten used to not having Harry's arms around her at night, but the idea she could be possessed by Riddle again, or at least semi-possessed, had her worried. She wished she could just snuggled into Harry and fall asleep, but that just wasn't possible, so she lay awake, staring at the ceiling before she finally fell asleep as the sun peaked out from behind the hills outside her window.

That morning at breakfast, Harry noticed how tired she looked, and he sent her a silent message, You okay? Ginny put on a smile and nodded, it wasn't possession, just a bad nights sleep. Harry was skeptic, but returned to his breakfast; he didn't have Defense until tomorrow, but Lockhart had been trying to catch him since they got here, and he needed energy to avoid him. Harry was determined to spend as little time as possible with Lockhart, even managing to avoid him before Herbology yesterday. Harry was especially grateful that because the flying car incident hadn't actually happened, and they hadn't gotten detention for it, he didn't have to spend hours addressing his fan mail. Though it was certainly an effective detention. Probably the most effective one he had in all his years of Hogwarts, including Umbridge's. He thought back to those detentions and looked at the back of his hand, the only scars there were from pruning the garden over the summer.

* * *

The next day, Harry had Defense first thing. He hoped Lockhart wouldn't confront him in front of the entire class, but he was doubtful. He was just glad that the first week was so light. This was, he was told much later in life, because the teachers liked to place wagers on certain students and needed an even playing field. (Of course, they denied it whenever asked) He had been marked as the nosy adventurous one, and had won McGonagall and Snape a large amount, though Snape wasn't able to collect. Which was probably good because he also bet against Neville ever doing anything worthy of the Gryffindor braveness.

As he walked into Defense, he marveled at how much the room changed in his years during and after Hogwarts. As creepy as Snape's room was, Lockhart's was ten times worse. He found a seat with Ron and Hermione in the back, and after a solid twenty minutes of boasting, Lockhart handed out the test. As soon as he got the test, Harry couldn't help but give honest answers.

1\. What is Gilderoy Lockhart 's favorite color?

 _Probably pink or any color that 'brings out his eyes'_

2\. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition?

 _To steal the accomplishments of wizards by wiping their memories after hearing the story of their heroics then writing books that proclaim he killed monsters while giving useless information about himself._

3\. What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?

 _Not getting caught yet._

40\. When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday, and what would his ideal gift be?

 _Whatever day he decides to ask for gifts, probably something cliche like world peace or something. Maybe a new set of robes in his color of the week. Or perhaps actual magical skill._

He handed it in, and Harry sat back and watched as Lockhart graded the tests. The look on his face when he read what Harry assumed was his, was probably the funniest thing he had ever seen in his life. Hermione stared at him.

"What did you do?" she whispered.

"Nothing, I just answered the questions honestly with as much effort as the quiz was worth."

Hermione rubbed her brow and shook her head, "I thought we were laying low."

"We are, but I'll do almost anything to keep Lockhart off my back." Hermione sighed again as Ron laughed into his hand. After class, Harry bolted out of the classroom. He had Charms next, and hopefully Lockhart would be subdued enough to leave he alone, at least for a few hours.

Unfortunately, Harry was caught by Lockhart right as he was about to walk into Charms.

"Hello Harry! I'm glad I caught you! I meant to talk to you after my class, but I must have missed you."

"I'm sorry Professor, I have a class-"

"I'm sure Professor Flitwick won't mind." Harry was about to complain again, when a dreamy voice came from behind,

"Excuse me Professor Lockhart? Professor Dumbledore is looking for you." Harry looked over and saw Luna Lovegood standing there, eyes fixed on something behind Lockhart, who frowned for a moment, but quickly corrected himself with a smile and walked away, probably to find Dumbledore.

Harry looked at Luna, "Dumbledore isn't looking for him, is he?"

"Eventually he will be. Though, not at the moment, no."

"Well, thanks."

"I suppose he didn't notice how uncomfortable you looked."

"He doesn't notice much. But I should probably head in now. Thanks again Luna." Harry froze a second later. He shouldn't know her name, since from her perspective they didn't know each other. Then an unexpected thing happened. Luna dropped the books she had been holding and pulled Harry into a hug.

"Oh thank God, I didn't realize it happened to you too! I'd hoped but I couldn't know!"

"Wait, calm down Luna. What do you mean?"

"Look, meet me in the Room, at the end of the day." Harry nodded, and Luna hurried off as Harry turned and walked into Charms.

* * *

After Charms, Hermione was joking with Harry. "So, Harry, what are you most excited about? I think the disarming charm could be rather useful."

"I dunno, seems like it wouldn't help that much. Only an idiot would let them self be disarmed." Ron had to fight to stop himself from doubling over with laughter, turning it into a coughing fit as they walked down the hall.

Then Harry remembered something, "Hey thanks again for leaving me to Lockhart. You're just lucky this girl, Luna stepped in."

"Luna?"

"Yeah. She told Lockhart that Dumbledore was looking for him."

"Seems weird, if you didn't know each other." Hermione pointed out,

"I don't know, she seemed to know me. Like, we knew each other before." Harry told them as they stepped out on to the grounds, off to visit Hagrid for the first time this year.

"Do you think she..." Ron asked, and Harry nodded,

"She told me as much." Harry kept it vague.

They were almost to Hagrid's house when an annoyingly cheery voice called out, "Harry! I'm so glad I caught you! It turns out Dumbledore wasn't looking for me after all. I suppose that poor girl just wanted an excuse to talk to me."

"Uhm, I'm kinda busy." Harry said, he could feel a scowl forming on his face.

"I want to talk to you about your test." Lockhart continued on as if Harry hadn't said anything,

"I'm not sure what you want to talk to me about. I've only said the truth."

"Harry, my boy, I understand you are trying to please the fans at the moment, but even fans have to occasionally wait."

"They aren't fans. They're friends. Something you'd know nothing about since you'd probably wipe their memories as soon as say hello." Harry had put up with Lockhart enough for two lifetimes. "Now, I suggest you leave me alone before I run to Dumbledore claiming you tried to wipe my memory."

Harry stormed off with Ron and Hermione, leaving Lockhart standing there dumbfounded.

"Did you have to do that Harry?" Hermione complained.

"What? It wouldn't be a total lie. He did try to wipe our memories." Ron reasoned, "The only reason he didn't was because my wand had broken and it backfired."

"Yes, and I'm very glad that didn't happen. But as annoying as he is, we can't go around threatening teachers."

"It's not like he's going to be here next year, not with the curse still in effect."

"I know, but still. It's not wise to make enemies with people who can give you detentions."

"Really? I didn't know that Hermione." Harry rolled his eyes.

"Well you don't seem to be showing it." Hermione told him, not letting the subject drop so easily.

"Look, I just don't want to have to deal with him. It's bad enough he thinks I'm fame obssessed, but a whole other thing that he's stalking me."

"Well maybe if you didn't outright tell him you knew what he did, he wouldn't be stalking you."

"Oh, really? Do you not remember second year at all? He was practically my shadow!" Harry started, "But then again, you were too busy fawning over him."

"Hey! Calm down, both of you. Look, Harry, you probably should stop making Lockhart mad, even if he deserves it, but he can give you detention with him, remember. But Hermione, you should lay off for a second. Lockhart is pretty obtrusive, and he's trying to drag Harry back into the spotlight he's been working so hard to stay out of." Ron was forced to mediate between the two.

Harry's shoulders sagged, "He's right, I'm sorry Hermione."

"I'm sorry too. This whole experience has just has me on edge." Harry nodded in agreement.

"Good. Now let's go down to Hagrid's." Ron led the way and Harry and Hermione followed close behind. While there, they talked about classes, and how much hairspray they thought Lockhart used. Fang had fallen asleep with his head in Harry's lap, and Hagrid had to pry him off before the trio could leave.

"Thanks again Hagrid! We'll stop by again soon!" Harry promised as they left, still brushing slobber off his robes. The trio went up to Gryffindor Tower, where they saw Ginny sitting by the fireplace, working on homework.

"Hey Ginny." Hermione said. After glancing around, she whispered something in Ginny's ear and the two of them left the Common Room, followed ten minutes later by Ron and Harry. They all met inside the Room, and Luna entered a few minutes after them.

"Luna! I'm so glad to see you!" Ginny said, hugging Luna. "How did you know?"

"Besides the fact you aren't fawning over Harry? The look in your eyes. I'm just glad I'm not the only one!"

"At least these two," Hermione gestured to Ron and Ginny, "Had each other. Harry and I had to wait until Harry got Hedwig to find out!"

"You sent a letter? That could have been dangerous!" Luna scolded.

"I gave Hedwig pretty specific instructions. Besides, Ginny was right next to me that night, so I thought she might have been sucked back too, and when Ron responded as well, I figured it was a safe bet Hermione was stuck here too." Harry defended himself, and Luna sighed,

"I suppose. As long as we're all here, I have a confession to make." Luna said, and Ginny raised an eyebrow. "I think it's my fault this happened."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, shocked.

"I had found an old book that belonged to my mother. She liked to experiment, you know. But I found an old potion, that was supposed make flowers look like they just blossomed when you sprayed them with it. The only problem was that the lacewing flies canceled out the effects of the powdered dragon scale. So I tweaked the recipe a little bit, and the next thing I knew, I was back at my father's house in my nine year old body." Luna finished.

"Could the potion have been that powerful?" Ginny asked, turning to Hermione.

"I'm not sure. It typically takes a spell, or enchanted object to time travel at all, let alone appear in your younger body in the process. I don't think it was the potion Luna." Luna sighed with relief, but still looked worried,

"I guess, but with such an experimental potion..."

"Luna, I don't think adding an entire unicorn horn to a vat of dragon blood could have done this. But..."

"What? Do you know something Hermione?" Ginny asked, worry clear in her face.

"I have one idea of what could have happened." she admitted, "But it's kind of a long stretch."

"What? Anything would be useful at this point." Ron said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Neo-Death Eaters."

"I thought we locked the last of them up." Harry said, confused.

"I'm not talking about people who picked up the cause right after Voldemort's downfall, I'm talking about people who recently picked up on his beliefs, and want to rid the world of Muggles and Muggleborns. And they think that we would get in the way." Hermione explained,

"But what about Neville?" Luna questioned, "He was just as involved as us, but he seems the same, if a little more confident."

"But he's at Hogwarts twenty-four seven, they wouldn't be able to get to him without an inside man, and that would take months of continuous work, and after sixth year, they're pretty cautious with that kind of thing."

"But why send us back, where we can fix things and end Voldemort faster?" Ron asked.

"I'm not sure. But I think we just added an enemy to the list." Hermione said, a grim look on her face.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

 **~PH**


	13. Sort of Possessed

**I really don't know why I didn't post this. I've had this chapter edited for a week or so, I've just been really spacey, I guess. Sorry about that, I'll try to be better about that.**

* * *

A week later, they still had no idea as to exactly who it was that sent them back. They suspected it was someone one of them had met recently, but they were all in professions where they were always meeting new people, so the possibilities were endless. Of course, it wouldn't do them any good if they could find out, but it would sooth some nerves.

However, it seemed that whoever had sent them back hadn't done as good a job as Harry was sure they meant to, as Luna reported that she had spoken to them the day after they had apparently been sent back. If it had been anyone except Luna, they would have suspected Polyjuice. But Luna had the uncanny ability to see past disguises of any kind. But she reported that the kids were fine and everything seemed normal, or at least as normal as it could get concerning their family.

Hermione thought for a moment as she digested this information. "It appears that us being sent back created a split in the timeline, which means there's no way back to the life we had."

"But how did Luna get here if she came after us?" Harry asked

"I can't be entirely sure, to be honest. This isn't anything I've heard of before but I believe this is some spell made by whoever did this. But without knowing more than that, there isn't anything I can do about all of this unless the person who did this joins us or reverses it themselves. But that's unlikely."

"So we don't get to see our families again?" Luna asked, he voice filled with worry.

"I'm sorry Luna, but not as we know them."

Luna nodded, and though she already knew the answer she had to ask, "Do you think Rolf came back too?"

"I wish I could say yes, I really do. Judging by the group gathered here, they seem to have targeted the leaders of Dumbledore's Army. We were the driving force behind the students and were all major players in Voldemort's downfall. So unless Rolf got in the way when you were sent back it's unlikely he was sent back." Hermione told her, an arm around her shoulder.

"We'd have to ask to know for sure, but I'm sure that your husband got in the way somehow. He seems to have a knack for that." Ginny said as she joined them, referring to the way Rolf was in everyone's way before their wedding. Luna let out a small sniff and smiled,

"I'd like to, I just don't want to pry too much and scare him." Luna shared some classes with Rolf, but hadn't talked to him yet.

"Hey, if he didn't run off after seeing your wedding dress..." Ginny teased,

"I worked very hard to get that title." Luna giggled, having chosen her wedding dress for the public ceremony to be purposely overly ridiculous, even for her.

* * *

A few more weeks passed before Halloween was right around the corner, and with it what would be the first basilisk attack. Because of that, Ginny had planned to stick with Hermione for that day, just in case. As for Harry, he had been avoiding Nick for weeks to avoid being asked to his deathday party so he could be there as well.

"I still feel bad about it." Hermione was worrying one day at breakfast.

"Don't," Ron suggested, "Luna was going to it anyway and she even promised to try and help out Nick."

Hermione sighed, "I suppose, but still, it seems rude."

"Rude is inviting living people to a party where the only food is rotting off of itself." Ron mumbled before taking a bite out of some toast. Hermione looked at her husband with a half annoyed half amused smile. While he definitely wasn't the most sensitive person, he had a big heart, and would have gone to the party if he was asked to.

"Hey," Ginny said, plopping down across from Harry, "I just finished talking to Luna. It turns out Rolf isn't nearly as good at getting in the way as we thought."

"So she talked to him?" Harry asked, and Ginny nodded.

"She said he didn't show any signs and didn't react to anything, not even the twins' names." Then Neville came over, he looked nervous. That in itself wasn't unusual, even with the boost in confidence, but he seemed overly nervous.

"What's wrong Neville?" Harry asked, noticing as much.

"It's nothing. I'm fine." Harry looked dubious but pushed his curiosity aside.

"Okay, but you can talk to us anytime." He told Neville, who smiled and thanked Harry before turning his attention to his breakfast. Harry was worried about Neville, but he didn't want to force Neville to tell him anything he didn't want to, so he finished his breakfast and braced himself for Defense.

Lockhart had been trying to corner him for the past month and Harry had been honing his keeping out of eyesight and ducking out of rooms before anyone could spot or stop him skills. Fortunately, Lockhart didn't seem to realize he could just call Harry down to his office and he would have to oblige. Of course, he also didn't think to call him up in the middle of class and request for him to stay after. So while he hadn't suffered from his test answers yet, Harry knew that with his luck, it wouldn't last very long. He had been careful to avoid doing anything that would earn him a detention as another precaution. It was mostly just minor pranks with Fred and George and occasionally sneaking into the kitchens with the cloak. Once he lent the cloak to the twins for their pranks with the promise it was returned to him the next day, not that he told anyone, of course.

Even Malfoy had left him alone for the most part. They had come to the silent agreement that if Draco left him and his friends alone, Harry wouldn't put him in the twin's crosshairs for pranks. It was working fairly well, with the exception of Potions, where Snape was constantly criticizing Harry. This was something Draco couldn't pass up, even if it resulted in him missing the occasional belonging that he couldn't prove someone had stolen.

Things were finally smoothing out as everyone settled in and started to work both together and alone in little ways to fix everything that had gone wrong the first time. It wouldn't be easy, and they weren't even sure if they could do it, but they were sure as hell going to try. The first thing on their list: keep the basilisk below Hogwarts. This posed the problem of having a live basilisk still in school, but Hermione had pointed out that if it stayed dormant for fifty years, and before that even longer, it shouldn't be much of a problem. And on the off chance it did become a problem, there was always roosters. She also pointed out the the basilisk had already lived much longer than a normal basilisk did, and would most likely die soon no matter what they did.

* * *

Before they knew it, it was Halloween. Ginny hadn't felt anything yet, which was a good sign, but the real problem was going to be tonight, at the feast. It was entirely possible that the basilisk would attack regardless of someone controlling it, simply for the sake of keeping true to the original timeline, but they weren't going to be sure until that night.

Harry had spent as much time as possible with Ginny because he knew that this was one of the few things that truly scared her. He just hated that he couldn't hold her hand or give her a kiss to reassure her. But for Ginny, just him being there was enough.

It had been a rough day and everyone was ready for the feast, Luna being the exception, and when they got to the Great Hall they founds seats near each other. Ginny sat next to some of her classmates a few seats down, and as the meal progressed, it was clear she was safe from being possessed, and she was able to relax. Which was more than Harry could say. He kept one eye on her the entire time.

Which was why, at the end of the feast when she spaced out for a moment and shuddered, Harry noticed right away. She shook herself and gave Harry a worried look. It hadn't been a full on possession, but it had felt like it. Before anyone else realized, Ginny calmed herself and gave Harry a reassuring smile. It was just a feeling, nothing more. She returned to her meal, but they were both still on edge.

After the feast, it came as little surprise to see the blood red letters and petrified cat in the hallway of the school. Well, to those who were expecting it anyway. Everyone else was in shock and surprisingly Draco kept his mouth shut this time, probably to avoid having all his underwear stolen again. Luckily no one had reason to blame Harry, Ron, and Hermione this time, and Filch went on to scare the first year who pointed out the cat. The only one who seemed suspicious of the trio was Snape, who locked eyes with them as soon as he arrived. Dumbledore was quick to calm everyone down and had the prefects bring everyone to their common rooms to separate them from the inconsolable Filch, who continued to blame anyone within sight.

The Gryffindors were sent straight to their dormitories, this was primarily because the twins started telling wild stories about what had happened to Mrs. Norris. Of course, the twins merely continued to shout conspiracies as they walked up the stairs.

Harry was almost certain he heard a first year repeating one such theory as they went to their own room.

* * *

The next day, everyone gathered in the Room, and as soon as the door closed, Ginny was in Harry's arms and Harry rubbed her back soothingly.

"It wasn't a possession, more like a memory of one."Ginny started once they had sat down, "Like my body knew I was supposed to be, but my mind fought against it." Ron started mumbling about a bloody snake face and his lap ferret. Hermione shushed him gently, but Ginny nodded her thanks. It was peaceful for a moment, the five of them were just relaxing in the Room when Sirius burst in, gasping and obviously distressed.

* * *

 **So I did expand on this but it's still pretty short. Sorry for that. Chapter length should resume.**

 **~PH**


	14. Taking a Step Back

**Apologizing in advance for the shortness of the chapter, I don't know why I made it so short.**

* * *

Everyone turned towards Sirius, whose forehead was drenched in sweat. He was completely out of breath and had to sit on the edge of one of the couches and take several deep breaths before he was able to speak.

"I think we have a problem. I was leaving Dumbledore's office after letting him know I had come to visit, which, by the way, I've been limited to only one visit a month, but anyway, I was just leaving when Snape walked up the steps to Dumbledore's office. So naturally, I listened at the door."

Ron let out a small snort at that, before attempting to cover it with a cough, knowing the situation was serious.

"Snape started talking about some book he found on time travel that he thought might pertain to their 'project' which I can only assume means you five. I don't know how much whatever book he's talking about says about your situation, given that I'm pretty sure it's the only case of it happening, but I figured better safe than sorry."

Hermione seemed to mentally hit herself, "I knew I should have just gotten rid of that book! I thought I'd hid it well enough, but I should have known-"

Ron stepped in front of her, "Come on, deep breath Hermione," She did as he said, "Alright, now, what are you talking about?"

"Sometime last year I was in the library and I saw Snape checking out some books. I'd never seen him there before so I was suspicious and I tried to look for what books he had been looking at. It looked like he had taken the entire shelf, but there was a small book on time travel that he missed, so I hid it. I had planned to go back and take it home with me, but I had forgotten about it until just now."

"If you hid it, then how did he find it?" Harry asked, knowing Hermione knew the library better than anyone and could hide just about anything there without anyone finding it.

"Madame Pince deep sweeps the library every summer, she must spend half her summer scanning every nook and cranny for a misplaced book so she can make sure her shelves are in perfect order. She must have found it then."

No one knew quite what to say until Luna spoke up. "I think we ought to stop trying to interfere so much for now. If we start acting what age we're supposed to be, Professor Dumbledore and Snape might stop being suspicious."

Sirius was the first to agree, "Luna's right. We've had good reason to interfere up to now, what with getting rid of the Horcruxes, but they're all gone, so let's take a step back."

No one seemed happy with this suggestion, as it meant weeks, probably months of being especially careful with everything they did and said. And they all knew that even if they did that, there was no guarantee that Dumbledore and Snape would stop investigating them. The only thing they could be sure of was that they would do their best not to give them any more clues. There were as too many variables at the moment and they needed to keep those who knew the truth to a minimum.

* * *

As hard as it was, the five of them managed to fall into a more normal routine for kids their apparent ages. Ginny and Luna continued talking, but kept it mostly to classes they shared, and Ginny ate with her fellow first years unless the twins decided they wanted to have a family meal. Hermione spent more time in the library, to explain her high grades while Harry and Ron opted to simply tone down the strength and accuracy of their spells. Hermione argued that it would be easier to pretend to study while the boys both remained firm that they would rather spend the day doing other things, such as Quidditch practice or wizard's chess. Ron also added that if they wanted the timeline to truly get back on track, he should stay ten feet away from the library at all times.

After a few weeks of this, it grew much easier to fake it. Luna found herself reading in the library and feeding the Thestrals much more often while Harry and Ron found themselves talking with Neville whenever Hermione was in the library. Both boys noticed instantly how much Neville had changed since their first second year. He seemed much more like the Neville that Harry had taught during the DA meetings. He was much more vocal about his love of Herbology already, and Harry and Ron were both glad that the Neville they knew talked about Herbology just as much because they were able to hold lengthy conversations about something that boosted Neville's already growing confidence.

They also noticed that this confidence spread into Potions, especially when Ron pointed out that half of Potions was knowing what certain herbs did in connection with other herbs and sometimes parts of magical creatures. This lead to a drastic change in Neville's potions, as he started thinking about the properties of all the herbs included. While this certainly made Harry glad, he couldn't help but realize that if he had talked to Neville as often as he did now, Neville's worst nightmare might not have been one of his teachers.

For Harry, the worst part of not actively doing things to change the future was that he found himself _thinking_ about what he could do to change it much more often. Whenever he did find himself thinking about it, his thoughts drifted back to all the things that had gone wrong the last time and wondering how much had been his fault directly. To counter that, he turned his thoughts to all the things that had gone right before. But this always seemed to lead to his children and the thought that he would never see them again, at least not the way he knew them. It was an ongoing mental battle and he often found himself wishing he could turn to Ginny for support, and because he couldn't do that, he turned this turmoil into determination on the quidditch pitch.

It got to the point that even Oliver told him to rest during one practice. When he got incredulous looks from the rest of the team, he quickly covered, saying he wanted to make sure his players weren't exhausted. This only elicited muttered "Since when?"s from the twins.

It took a while, but Harry eventually got this out of his system and was able to return to his normal pace. This relieved everyone else, especially Ginny who was getting ready to step in and comfort him.

The good that came of all this was that it seemed as if Dumbledore and Snape had backed off and became less invested in finding out just what was going on, which was a relief to everyone.

* * *

 **This chapter is inexcusably short, and I'm so sorry for that. I really tried to expand it, and I did, but I just couldn't add** anymore **.**

 **~PH**


	15. The Chamber

**Sorry it's been so long, I honestly don't have an excuse, so I'm really sorry for that.**

* * *

It had been several weeks since the group had stopped being so involved in altering the timeline, and in doing so, Dumbledore had returned to being on the sidelines, allowing everything to play itself out. Snape seemed as sullen and dark as ever, although he no longer seemed to be investigating Harry and his friends. This wasn't much of a relief since Snape had always been very good at hiding what he was up to.

Ever since they decided to go back to simply going through their school days, Sirius and Remus had stopped coming around. This was much less of a hindrance than anyone thought it would be since their visits were seeming less and less understandable. Following advice from Hermione, Remus had already started talking to the local packs. Many of them still feared Fenrir, even if he was still in Azkaban. Sirius, meanwhile, had given all the goblin-made heirlooms in Grimmauld Place to the goblins at Gringotts, and they seemed nicer for it. This was only the beginning of their plans, and they had made only a few steps forward, but they were determined to have as many allies as possible if the time came.

Those who remained at Hogwarts were able to continue on as normal, although all of them were uneasy about the recent development, though Harry fared the worst of everyone. The relative silence made it too easy for him to stew, resulting in several restless nights.

He had woken up in a cold sweat for the third time that week by the dream that had been tormenting him. He would walk downstairs and find his family replaced by cloaked figures. The dream would always end before he could see their faces, and he would wake up.

This time, he could tell he wasn't getting back to sleep so he got up and looked through his curtains and saw Neville, Dean, and Seamus were all sleeping soundly, but Ron was nowhere to be seen. He got up to look around for him.

"Harry!" Harry jumped as Ron whisper-shouted his name behind him.

"Ron! You nearly gave me a heart attack, what's wrong?"

Ron was panting, and clearly distressed, "Ginny's gone missing! We were on our way back from Astronomy when Hermione and I heard McGonagall and Dumbledore saying someone was taken into the Chamber and that Ginny was missing. We ran here as quickly as we could for the Invisibility Cloak. Hermione's waiting downstairs. We have to go now!" Harry didn't need to be told twice. He grabbed the Cloak from his trunk and ran down the stairs with Ron. He didn't see Hermione, but he did see McGonagall, who didn't see surprised to see them.

"Mr. Weasley, Mr. Potter, I'm going to need you to wait here." Ron nodded, but as soon as McGonagall walked up the stairs, presumably to find the rest of the Weasleys, Hermione ran out from behind the staircase and the three of them bolted out the common room door. Harry threw the invisibility cloak over the three of them and they made their way to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. It had been a very long time since Harry had spoken Parseltongue. After Voldemort killed the Horcrux in him, he lost the ability. He took a deep breath and leant forward to focus on the serpent shaped faucet.

"Open" He hissed, and the sink slowly slid open, revealing the greasy slide down to the Chamber of Secrets. He jumped down the slide without a second thought, if the stakes had been high before, they were even higher now. Harry was determined to get Ginny out as quickly as possible. He heard Ron and Hermione follow him down the shoot, and he soon hit the bottom. By the time Ron and Hermione's feet hit the bottom, the three of them heard another person coming down the slide. It turned out to be two people.

"Luna? Lockhart?" The trio asked at the same time, all equally surprised.

Lockhart had has wand out, while Luna seemed to be faking fear, though Harry could see more worry in her eyes.

"Well Harry, I have been wanting to talk to you for a while now. Preferably in my office, but I suppose this will do." Lockhart said as he aimed his wand at Harry.

"I assume this is about the test answers? I mean, I don't know how you didn't get caught before, you may have a good memory charm, you failed to realise that more than the people you interviewed witnessed those feats of other wizards. A short trip to a little village in Armenia with Sirius and Remus showed as much. You should probably know they're aware of your scheme." Harry said, getting at why Luna had brought Lockhart with her. Sure enough, Lockhart went on his little spiel,

"You're very right Harry, I did steal the achievements of several wizards, and thanks to your little tip, I won't make that mistake again. Unfortunately, I can't have you five blabbing my secret, I'll take care of your guardians later, but for now I'm afraid I'll have to-"

The sounds of one Memory Charm and five Shield Charms echoed throughout the Chamber. After the light of the charms faded and the dust settled, Lockhart was laying on the ground unconscious. Apparently the five shields made his spell rebound and hit him, causing something to the effect of trying to use a broken wand. Harry walked over and nudged him,

"Huh. Irony is persistent." The blast had caved in the tunnel to the main Chamber, but Hermione made quick work of the blockage and the group made their way to the Chamber. Ginny was still conscious, but just barely.

"Harry!" Ginny mumbled from the middle of the floor, "He's here!"

Then the ghost-like Riddle stepped out from the shadows, "Harry Potter." He then seemed to notice everyone else that followed Harry and sighed, "I do find it quite exhausting having spares, especially so many."

Harry clenched his wand tighter, the words hitting too close to the last words Cedric Diggory had ever heard. He didn't know what Riddle knew, considering he didn't even know how he was here in the first place. It was entirely possible that he knew everything Ginny did, which would make it much worse if Harry couldn't figure out how to stop him. Unfortunately, he didn't know what was tying him here.

Riddle made his way over to the group, ignoring the weakening Ginny, who was trying to stand and reach her wand, which was no longer in her possession. As Riddle talked, Harry noticed he was slowly becoming more and more corporeal. Harry glanced back at Ginny and was about to run to help her when the sound of hissing caught his attention. Riddle had summoned the Basilisk.

"Look away!" He ducked his head but heard several different spells go off, in an attempt to blind the Basilisk. Luna and Ron tried distracting it while Harry was trying to focus on why Fawkes had come in the first time he was in this situation. Then he remembered that it had been his loyalty to Dumbledore. He silently started asking for help, calling out for the phoenix, his calls were answered as he heard the calls of the phoenix.

"Hold your fire!" Harry shouted, and the spells ceased for a moment and the sound of the Basilisk screeching filled the air. The phoenix had successfully scratched out the eyes of the snake, leaving the snake's petrifying glare useless. The hat dropped next to Harry in the next moment, and after reaching into the hat, he pulled out the goblin-made sword and turned to face the Basilisk.

* * *

 **I'll try to be better, I really will try.**


	16. Freedom At Last

**Don't know how I'm getting these done so fast, but I doubt you are complaining!**

* * *

Harry was staring down the Basilisk. Of course, he was actually staring at it, since the Basilisk was blinded by Fawkes. Otherwise, Harry would've been petrified by now. He held the sword of Gryffindor in both hands, knowing his wand would be nearly pointless against the snake. He tried to lure it away from where it was coiling between his friends and wife. He wasn't exactly sure how he beat the Basilisk last time, it was all a blur, even now. He just knew he needed to get it away from everyone else. Even now, as he was fighting the basilisk, he wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing. His instinct had taken over and he fell back into the all too familiar feeling of fighting for survival.

Meanwhile, Luna took the initiative as Hermione and Ron worked on making their way to Ginny. Luna began to look for anything that could possibly have made this situation happen, she knew that all of his Horcruxes that Voldemort created at this point had been destroyed. At least, they that's what they thought. She thought back to the stories Harry had told her when she was helping him with his survivor's guilt after the war. Luna ducked behind a pillar just as the Basilisk snapped its tail where she had been standing. That's it! She knew exactly why Tom Riddle was here. The only possible explanation was that the Basilisk had been a Horcrux, and when Harry had stabbed it with the sword in his second year, he had introduced the snake to its own venom, killing it.

She dove again as the snake's tail reduced the pillar she had been standing behind to rubble. It made sense, not only did it explain why there were effects of a Horcrux over the school, but it also explained why Ginny became so susceptible so quickly the first time. Not only had she written in the diary, but she had been used as a communication device between the snake and Riddle, putting her under the influence of two Horcruxes at the same time. One had been bad enough, but it also explained why Ginny had lost life force so quickly when Riddle decided it was time to make his appearance while this time she still had strength. She filed this theory (which she was almost sure was correct) to a side area of her brain and focused on getting out of range of the snake's enormous tail. She waited for the tail to swing again and went around it, running as fast as she could towards the far end of the Chamber. Unfortunately, the tail swung back too quickly and she got caught in the leg with the end of it. The force sent her flying across the wet floor. She hit the floor and fell unconscious, but away from the snake's reach.

Hermione ran towards Luna, pulling her closer to their group. In her haste, she failed to see that Luna's wand had fallen out of her sock, leaving it to Tom Riddle for the taking. Ron turned just as Riddle picked up the wand and aimed it towards Hermione.

"Hermione! DUCK!" Ron shouted, and Hermione immediately dropped to the ground as a spell shot over her head. Ron's shout attracted the attention of the Basilisk, who turned her massive head, giving Harry the opening he needed. He jumped onto the Basilisks lowered head, out of reach of her fangs, and stabbed her between her eyes. As the poison seeped into the Basilisk's mouth, her head hit the ground and she died as the poison made it's way down her throat. A scream sounded through the air as the last thing tying Voldemort's soul to the school vanished. Harry, who was battered but hadn't been pierced by the snake's fangs, this time, looked around confused.

"Did I miss something? What happened to Riddle?"

"I'm not sure. He just disappeared." Hermione said, shaking her head. She was obviously still shaken, but mostly unharmed.

* * *

It took much longer to get out of the Chamber this time. Ginny was still weak and Luna and Lockhart were both passed out, so it was easier to take two trips out of the Chamber. When they had all gotten up, Lockhart had finally woken up and was asking everyone who they were, and who he was. Before they left, Harry remembered something and used the Invisibility Cloak to go back up to the Gryffindor Common Room.

He returned five minutes later, but wouldn't say what he had grabbed. They started towards Dumbledore's office, and while Ginny had regained some strength, she still used what happened as an excuse to put her arm around Harry. Hermione was holding Luna and Ron was guiding, or rather shoving, Lockhart down the hall because he kept getting distracted by the moving portraits and his reflection in the suits of armour.

They eventually reached Dumbledore's office, and when they stepped in, Mrs. Weasley saw Ron and Ginny and she pulled them into one of the biggest hugs Harry had seen her give. Sirius was there too, and he pulled Harry into a massive hug as well. Xenophilius Lovegood was there as well. He had been crying, and when he saw Luna he nearly collapsed in relief. Even the Grangers were there, they obviously didn't know the magic behind it, but he was sure Hermione was about to spend a lot of time explaining she was never in danger. Unfortunately, Lucius Malfoy was there as well. He seemed to have been in the middle of saying something and been stopped by their entrance.

He made a cursory look around the room and when he realised that every student who had gone missing was here, and mostly unharmed, he quickly stormed out. Harry excused himself and ran after him.

"Hey, Mr. Malfoy! I have something of yours." Malfoy looked at him, disgusted.

"I have no idea what you could possibly mean."

"Well, that's not a new thing, but this is your book, and you know it." Harry said, forcing the diary Harry had asked Sirius to hold aside for him after destroying the Horcrux in it. Lucius scowled at Harry and threw the book to the side.

"Catch Dobby!" The house elf looked up just as the book fell into his arms. He opened the book and lifted a filthy black sock from the pages. Dobby looked at Harry as a grin spread across his face as he realised what happened.

"Master has given Dobby a sock!" Dobby exclaimed, his voice happier than Harry had heard it. Lucius whirled towards Harry, wand already raised, but Dobby stepped between them and raised a hand to block him.

"You will not harm Harry Potter. Harry Potter is Dobby's friend." The house-elf sent his old master flying down the corridor. Malfoy gave one last contemptuous look before gathering himself up and leaving the school, his robes billowing around him.

"Thank you, Harry Potter! You have freed Dobby!"

"It was no problem Dobby. No one deserves to have a Malfoy as a master." Dobby hugged Harry before disappearing. Sirius walked into the hallway a moment later, giving Harry a strange look.

"I'll explain later. We should probably get back." Harry said, heading back to the office, where Dumbledore was talking to the Weasleys, Grangers, and Lovegood. He was assuring them that their children seemed to be perfectly fine after their experience. Luna was still unconscious, but otherwise seemed perfectly fine and would wake up soon, they had all suffered minor cuts and scrapes and Ginny was very shaken, but they were alive.

"Ah, Harry, did you accomplish what you needed to?" Dumbledore asked, the familiar twinkle in his eye. Harry nodded with a small smile.

"Of course Professor. It all worked out in the end." Dumbledore smiled his all-knowing smile and asked Harry to sit. Harry shrugged and sat, leaning back in his chair as he realised how tired he was.

"As I am given to understand, you were the one who led the way through the Chamber?"

"Well, I just opened the door. I wasn't really in charge." Harry said.

Ron stepped in, "Hermione and I overheard Professor McGonagall talking with you about how Ginny went missing and we knew we had to do something. We figured out where the Chamber was and Harry figured out how to open the entrance. After we were down in the Chamber Luna came down with Lockhart and after Lockhart accidentally Obliviated himself, Luna said he had threatened her with wiping her memory because she knew about Lockhart's secret so she ran and found herself in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and found the open entrance, so she jumped down and was followed by Lockhart."

Dumbledore remained silent this entire time, thinking about what Ron was saying. Harry could almost hear the gears in his head turning, trying to figure out how everything happened without him having any clue. Of course, it wouldn't be the first time, but this went further than a single teacher. He thought he knew everything that went on in his school. Harry was snapped out of his thoughts by Dumbledore looking intently at him.

"Harry?"

"I'm sorry Professor, I got lost in thought."

"I'm familiar with the concept. I had asked you how you managed to make it out."

"Oh, well, Fawkes had blinded the Basilisk and brought the Sorting Hat to us. I pulled the sword out of the Hat and while everyone distracted the snake I was able to fight it. I almost got bit when Ron shouted something and the Basilisk turned towards him. After that Fawkes brought us all out of the Chamber and we came here."

"Thank you. Now, I must ask you all to go to the hospital wing or Madame Pomfrey may have my head." Everyone nodded and Harry and Ron grabbed Luna, who had just started to wake up, between their arms. Hermione and Ginny followed behind them, making sure Lockhart was still following them.

When they reached the hospital wing they were greeted by Madame Pomfrey forcing them all to sit down and wait to be checked on as she tended to Luna first.

* * *

 **I don't know what happened to my chapter lengths, they kinda dropped off and I'm sorry for that. They SHOULD pick up soon.**


	17. End of Year Two

**Sorry I haven't been updating here, but I've been so busy writing for stories on Wattpad that I haven't been able to address . However, this story is COMPLETED and I have several other stories on my Wattpad account, so you can read it in it's entirety there or continue reading it here. Either way, hope you continue to enjoy!**

* * *

Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron were given clearance to leave fairly quickly since none of them had bad physical injuries, but they all decided to wait until Luna woke up. Chances were she'd wake up confused and they were probably the best ones to explain it all. Lockhart had been babbling rather loudly the entire time, and it didn't take long after Madame Pomfrey's examination for her to retreat to her office, most likely to send word of his condition to St. Mungo's.

An hour or so later, three large wizards in St. Mungo's robes came to retrieve Lockhart as he rambled on about cave homes. One of them noticed Harry sitting at Luna's bedside and gave a slight nod.

Luna woke up as they were leaving and sat up slowly, "I seemed to have missed a lot. How long was I out?"

"You were unconscious for a couple hours Luna, your father was worried sick, you should have seen him in Dumbledore's office," Ginny told her friend, who sighed.

"Is he still here?"

"Last we saw, he was talking to Dumbledore, but we had to come here to get checked out. You only just missed Lockhart. Poor guy didn't stand a chance, the Healers had to tell him they were taking him to a book signing to get him to leave without a show," Luna laughed, then stopped and grabbed her head, "Madame Pomfrey said you might have a slight concussion, but nothing bad. You'll just have a headache for a few days, and you shouldn't take any potions other than this one for two weeks."

"Wonderful," Luna said, uncharacteristically bitter. Then Madame Pomfrey walked in and saw Luna was awake and talking. She gave her some instructions about the potion and taking it easy before asking if she would like to see her father. Luna nodded, and turned to her friends, "Thanks for waiting for me to wake up, I appreciate it. But could I talk to my father alone? He gets a bit... Flustered sometimes."

Everyone nodded and they walked out, heading for the Gryffindor Common Room. Once they got there, they all trekked up to the boys' room, which was vacant since everyone else was at breakfast. Which was good because as soon as they were behind the closed door, Harry and Ginny pulled each other into a hug, both mumbling about how the other should never scare them like that again. It had been too familiar for both of them, and they hadn't been in such a dire situation in several years. Hermione and Ron were hugging too, but they were silent, with Ron smoothing down Hermione's hair. As scary as it had been, neither of them had been possessed by Voldemort or faced a Basilisk as directly. Slowly, they were able to pull apart, and sat down on Harry and Ron's beds, though Ginny's head still rested on Harry's shoulder.

"I'm not sure what happened. I was sitting in bed, doing homework when I heard a voice. I was scared, and I knew you were in Astronomy, so I started to head that way. I got half way there and then all of a sudden I was back in the Chamber of Secrets and you all were rushing in." Harry had put his arms around she and sighed.

"But why? There isn't any reason for you to have been affected. The diary is completely gone."

"I have no idea, I was thinking about what it could have been but nothing I've thought of makes any sense. There's no reason anything should have happened, especially me blacking out."

"Maybe Luna has an idea, she seemed distracted right before she was knocked out." Hermione mused. She'd been thinking about it just as much but had come up blank as well.

* * *

Luna wasn't let out of the hospital wing until the day before the end of year feast. All of them met up together that day in the library, and after casting Muffliato, (which Hermione had pointed out they should have been using from the beginning.)

Once they were settled, Luna explained her theory, "The only explanation I could think of is that the first Horcrux Riddle made wasn't the Diary, it was the Basilisk. Think about it. Riddle was the one that killed Myrtle, if he could make Nagini a Horcrux, why not the Basilisk? He must have made the diary and ring when he killed his family."

Harry frowned and thought about it for a minute, "That makes sense. He wasn't much older when he killed them, and he didn't look much different. It's possible certainly-"

"But why was I affected? I certainly didn't go near the Basilisk voluntarily."

Luna thought about it,"It's possible that your previous experience was enough to call you to it. Not to mention all the worrying you've done about it. It would also explain why you were affected so easily and quickly."

"I never thought about it like that. We never had to worry about the Basilisk because I killed it with its own venom in the first place. We never made the connection because even after destroying the Basilisk the diary was still trying his soul to the Chamber." Harry said.

"But then why didn't the Diadem tie him here the first time?" Hermione pointed out.

"Well, it had never been interacted with, and if it's not that, well, we don't know the workings of the Room of Requirement. We're not even sure it's part of the school if no one needs it at the time." Luna said. Se personally believed that it wasn't. They continued to think about any reason it could have happened, to be sure it didn't happen again. The finally agreed Luna was probably right, and the Basilisk was indeed a Horcrux.

The group spent the rest of the day walking the grounds together. One upside to their shenanigans in the Chamber was that they could spend time together without it looking weird. Once you went through a life threatening experience together, no one questioned why you were friends. The next day came fast and it was time for the feast. Gryffindor was in fourth place, with a measly hundred points. Slytherin was in third with around 300 points, Hufflepuff had 354 and Ravenclaw was in first with over 400 points. Harry, Ron, the twins, and even Hermione had been pulling pranks consistently throughout the year. Never anything damaging, unless you counting missing class as damaging. Hermione had been answering relatively few questions during class, and only because they helped further the lessons. The only reason they had any points at all was the Quidditch Cup, which hadn't been canceled since no one had been petrified throughout the year. And since Harry was participating in every match, they'd been on a winning streak, leaving Oliver on cloud nine for the past two years. All Harry had to do was stay conscious and they'd had it in the bag, they were easily the best team.

Even with the effort put in, Dumbledore found a way to give Gryffindor five-hundred points and had given Ravenclaw one-hundred points for Luna's contribution. It was quite the show of favoritism and the group of time travelers all yelled in outrage. The twins had joined in after Harry pointed out that they could break the school record for having the least amount of points in a school year, and it was all because of causing general mischief. They would be legendary. They joined in the shouting, but even they were drowned out by the other Gryffindor's cheers, and Dumbledore remained oblivious to the shouts of those he'd just given points to. Harry understood the reasoning, but that didn't make it right, they'd already all gotten awards for services to the school.

After the feast, everyone who'd put off packing until the very last minute went to pack their trunks, reminisce about the year, and for the fifth and seventh years, unwind after hard exams before finally getting set to leave. They still received the annual letter reminding them not to use underage magic and everyone under seventeen still grumbled about it. So basically, it was just like every other end of the year. Slowly but surely, everyone made their way to the trains and by a stroke of luck, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Luna managed to get their own compartment, and after casting their normal charms they started joking and playing a couple games of exploding snap as they made their way to King's Cross, where their families would be waiting for them, though the Dursley's would be waiting on the other side of the barrier, giving Harry a few minutes with Sirius before he had to cross over, for which he was grateful.


	18. Motorcycles and Broomsticks

**Surprise chapter dump! We're starting to get to the minimum editing chapters, which'll make it easier to just post chapters without having to take time specifically to edit before posting**

* * *

Harry greeted his Aunt Petunia with a smile. The two of them had become much closer now that they only spent a week at a time together and Harry spent a majority of that working with her in the garden or in his room. When he was stuck in his room, he usually read, but about a very specific topic. He'd been thinking about it, and he had decided to become an Animagus again, which would require a lot of focus and meditation. He really should have considered starting this in History of Magic.

* * *

When his week at the Dursley's was over, Harry made a mad dash out to where Sirius was waiting. He had agreed last year to pick Harry up the "normal" way, though he neglected to tell the Dursleys that he would be coming by motorcycle, which left Uncle Vernon a shade of purple Harry was quick to get away from. Sirius noticed this when he hopped off to grab Harry's trunk, and if not for a warning look from Harry he would have taken great glee in egging him on. Instead, he grabbed Harry's trunk and threw it on the back of his bike after casting a feather-light charm. Sirius handed Harry his own helmet from under the back seat and insisted he put it on before getting on the bike. They drove all the way to Sirius' place by The Burrow and once they were inside, Harry told him about his desire to become an Animagus again.

"Wait, again?"

"Did I not tell you I became one?" Sirius shook his head, "Oh, well I became one a couple years after the war. We were hunting down the old Death Eaters and a couple got the jump on me. If it wasn't for Ron I'd be either tied up or dead. It could have been avoided easily if I hadn't been so distracted, but I decided to become an Animagus. I had a bit of inspiration on that front."

"I don't like the whole almost dying part but I do feel honored your taking after me and your dad. What's your form?" Sirius was bouncing up and down, curious.

"I'm an owl. Or, I was. I'm not sure if it's changed at this point. I know I've changed personally, but my Patronus never changed so I can't know for sure."

"You can make a Patronus too?"

"Since my third year, actually. I keep forgetting what I've told you. But the first time around, you escaped Azkaban so the Ministry put Dementors all around the school. I was very... affected by them and so I asked Remus, who was the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at the time, to teach me a way to fend them off."

Sirius let out a low whistle, "Impressive. How long did it take for it to take a corporeal form? Assuming you have one since you said it hasn't changed shape."

"A couple months," Sirius' eyes bugged out, "I was able to make a wisp of it on my second or third try, I think. You wanna see it?" Sirius nodded, the Ministry was aware he was now with Sirius so any magic they detected would be assumed to be his. Harry's happy memory had changed numerous times throughout his years. Once, it had been his three children, happy and safe. Then this happened and now thinking about them made him sadder than anything, so his happy memory returned to what it had been before that, the sight of Ginny on their wedding day, almost twenty years ago. He focused on the memory and raised his wand.

"Expecto Patronum!" A white stag erupted from his wand and galloped into their family room when Harry looked over at Sirius, he had tears in his eyes,

"You really are your father's son." Harry smiled at his godfather, he had gotten a few more memories of his parents over the years and came to find his father had really shaped up after the Levicorpus incident. He had some memories of his mother, and it turns out she wasn't a perfect saint, she once played a prank so she could blame it on James and Sirius to get them off her back. He paused in his thoughts,

"Hey, do you know if Remus is planning on teaching this year?" Sirius looked at him, clearly still caught up in memories.

"It's supposed to be a surprise, but yeah." Harry frowned, "What's wrong? We thought you'd be happy."

"I would be, but Voldemort placed a curse on the position. No one can hold the job for more than a year. Quirrell went out because he sided with Voldemort, Lockhart had his memory wiped beyond repair, Snape ratted on Remus for being a werewolf and the parents weren't too happy, Moody ended up being a Death Eater in disguise, Umbridge got carried off by Centaurs, and Snape... how do I put this? Anyway, he didn't return as a DADA professor. It wasn't until after Voldemort died that someone was finally able to hold it, though it was a pain to find someone in the first place. A Hufflepuff that was in my year took over and has been teaching ever since. Will be? This is why I don't like these conversations." Sirius nodded, Harry had told him briefly about his seventh year, so he understood what he was saying.

"How come you didn't take over? You certainly have the qualifications." Harry shrugged, he'd gotten the question a lot, especially from former DA members.

"I wanted to prevent another Voldemort from rising, and I wanted to make sure the Ministry would actually start doing something about them before they reach the level of power Voldemort did while they denied his existence. I did occasionally go in to make a few speeches, scare the first years a bit." Sirius grinned,

"I'll make a Marauder of you yet."

"Please, I caused more trouble in one year than you did in seven." Harry smirked, and Sirius raised an eyebrow and ruffled Harry's hair, he pushed his godfather's hand away and sent a small glare his way, "My hair is messy enough, thank you very much."

A moment later, several Weasley children came bursting through the door, grouping around Harry in a big hug.

"Good to see you, mate," Ron said, clapping him on the back.

"It really is-"

"Good to see you."

"Except, we suppose-"

"You're still a scrawny-"

"Specky git!" Fred and George had shoved Ron out of the way and were on either side of Harry with their arms around him. Ginny giggled and pointed at his hair,

"With awful bedhead. Oh, wait." Fred and George laughed, nearly falling over themselves. Harry glared at Ginny, clearly telling her he aimed to get back at her later. Ginny tried to look innocent, which, to anyone who didn't know her, actually looked convincing. Harry grabbed a pillow off a nearby couch and threw it at her. She caught it before it hit her face and stuck her tongue out at him,

"Nice catch, you going for Chaser this year? Since you can finally ride a broom?"

"Since when can you ride?" Fred asked

"How do you think I actually tore up all my stockings when I was little? It wasn't tea parties, I'll tell you that."

Fred and George grinned, they both had a healthy respect for anyone who broke a few rules.

"Are you going to try out, then?"

"I dunno, I don't have a lot of experience actually playing." Harry snorted softly, "Besides, I'm only a second year, I wouldn't make it against any of the current players, and even if I miraculously did, I wouldn't want to take play time from them."

"You could always become a reserve Chaser. That way you could get the experience and be able to get to know the team better, that's how Alicia started." George told his younger sister, who looked at him.

"Huh, I didn't think about that. But what would I do about a broom? There's no way we can afford another."

"You could have Harry's old broom," Sirius said casually. Harry looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh? What ever could you mean Sirius?"

"Oh, nothing. I was strolling along the streets of Diagon Alley when I happened upon the Quidditch shop," Harry snorted, "I saw that they had a new broom, seemed like a great broom, I had meant to go it to get a broom servicing kit, but the man sweet talked me, and I bought the broom."

"You don't mean-"

"A Firebolt?" Sirius nodded, bringing out said broom. Harry smiled and took the broom from Sirius, giving him a hug as he did. It really was an awesome gift.

"Too bad Hermione isn't here to check it for dark magic," Harry muttered into Ron's ear. The other boy laughed.

"So, Ginny, want a broom?" Harry asked, and Ginny smiled.

"What, you don't want to give it to Ron?"

Ron shrugged, "It's going to be at least another year before I even get a chance to be on the team. I'd probably go for Keeper and Wood could be vomiting slugs and he'd still be guarding those hoops with his life."

"That is very true."

"And a very good idea," Fred added conspiratorially.

"Then I'd love the broom, though I suspect one of these two will try and use it while I'm not." Ginny gestured to Fred and George, who shook their heads.

"Nah, we would both need one-"

"Otherwise we'd be out of sync."

"After all-"

"We work better at the same pace!" Everyone was laughing at the twins and Ginny gave Harry a hug as thanks for the broom. Before they said they had to go, their mother was making dinner and they had to go to help make it. Harry waved goodbye before Sirius and he went into the kitchen to eat their own dinner (which consisted almost exclusively of ice cream.) It was an unspoken rule that the first day at Sirius' consisted of zero responsibilities and more sweets than was strictly responsible.


	19. Crazy Witch

**This was just a weird chapter originally in terms of wording, but I fixed it up. Expect another chapter within half an hour or so!**

* * *

Harry was jolted awake as his mattress started tipping over, he twisted and landed on his feet, and he turned, wand already in hand. As the mattress dropped back onto the frame, he saw Sirius with a mischievous smile. Harry couldn't help but laugh, it had been a week since he got to Sirius' house and Sirius had been waking him up in several less than pleasant ways (the worst of which was the time Harry woke up on the roof). Harry had returned the favor by charming his shampoo to turn his hair toxic green at random points throughout the day. Suffice to say it was an interesting house to be in, especially during the rare times Remus came over and got caught in the crossfire. And since Harry was living with Sirius, he didn't have to worry about pesky Ministry letters about underage magic (he still had to be careful when he was at the Weasleys' but besides that).

After Harry had put his wand away, Sirius held out a note from the school. Based on the size Harry knew it was the book list and Hogsmeade permission slip, "Huh, is it me or do these things come earlier and earlier. So can you sign it?"

Sirius smiled, "I don't know, you could get up to a lot of trouble outside those school walls. But, I suppose I will." Teasing, he continued, "Shame Ginny can't go yet, you two could slip off to old Puddifoot's for a romantic date."

"Nah, Hog's Head is more our style." They made their way downstairs and Sirius pulled a quill and ink and signed Harry's permission slip as Harry started making breakfast. Partly out of habit, and partly because Sirius couldn't boil water without burning it. So it was either Harry cooked or they went over to the Weasleys' for dinner.

Ten minutes later Harry sat down with Sirius for breakfast. He picked up the Prophet and nearly choked on his bacon, blaring across the front page in big letters was something Harry did not expect to see, at least for another two years, " _BELLATRIX LESTRANGE: AZKABAN ESCAPEE_ "

He read through the article and discovered Bellatrix had been able to break out by methods (for obvious reasons) undisclosed and she was currently on the run. Harry's best guess was chance permitted by the meddling of him and his friends. Sirius noticed that Harry had tensed up and his hand was inching towards his wand.

"What, did they raise the price of color changing ink again?"

"No, Bellatrix escaped." Harry turned the paper to show Sirius the cover. Sirius snatched it from Harry's hands and Harry saw his eyes fly over the text, his face getting angry as he read.

"Well, that can't be good. If she's out, it's only a matter of time before she can break out the others."

"I can think of two good things that have come from this." Harry started, hesitantly. Sirius raised an eyebrow skeptically, "One, it's not you on the cover, and two, the Ministry will be keeping a very close eye on anyone close to her, especially those with suspected Death Eater ties. And if Scrimgeour has anything to say about it, he'll keep an eye on the Malfoy's, Fudge's orders be damned. Hopefully, she gets caught trying to get to them."

"Doubtful. She may be insane, evil, sadistic-"

"I get it, Sirius."

"But she's not stupid. She's was Voldemort's right-hand woman for a very good reason, and her unrelenting ruthlessness was only half of it." A minute later, Ron and Ginny burst in the door and they were nearly hit with a stunning spell.

"I'm guessing you saw the paper?" Ron asked unnecessarily.

"It can't be coincidence, it has to be because Sirius is already proven to be innocent. Why did it have to be her though?" Ginny groaned, and Harry was again reminded that she had been an inch away from being killed by the witch blazoned across the cover.

"She is my closest living relative in Azkaban to my knowledge." Sirius supplied.

"I guess that makes sense. Now the question is what we're supposed to do about this. It's not like she's actually innocent of what she did. There's a legitimate worry about her hurting someone."

"Maybe this isn't for us. Maybe it's for Neville." Everyone looked at Ginny, "Think about it, his parents were tortured by her, maybe he's going to get to have his revenge."

"Maybe, but that's straying so far from what happened originally. He wasn't even the one to take her down last time."

"Well it's not like what we've done up to this point has been either. The things that are matching up with last time are becoming more and more inconsistent, maybe we've strayed too far from what was supposed to happen that we've split completely, I mean, no one besides Mrs. Norris got petrified last year, all of us were in the Chamber, Sirius isn't an Azkaban escapee, it's possible we're forming our own future at this point, without interference from time itself."

"I don't know, the way Hermione explained it, it doesn't sound like time is something so easily changed like that." Ron sounded skeptical, but Harry understood something.

"No, it's something else. Hermione said we were fixing the timeline ourselves in first year, right?" The others nodded, "Well maybe because we were mostly conforming to the original timeline, that's what time started doing, but now that we've almost completely ditched it, it's becoming more flexible."

"That doesn't explain why Bellatrix escaped."

Harry shrugged,"Maybe time just has a really sick sense of humor."

Ron still thought this seemed rather far-fetched, but he could accept the core of the theory was plausible. The group was now sitting around the table, discussing the coming year when Harry realized something, that he hadn't even considered up to this point.

"What should we do about the map? I hate to take it from the twins, but it'd be much easier to keep an eye on everything, especially with Bellatrix on the loose."

"You could always let them know who I am, I'm sure they would give it back. It is your birthright or whatever." Harry thought about it, for a moment, and shrugged.

"Once they find out they're going to bombard you with questions, but if you don't mind that would work. Though I'd rather not come up with some convoluted way of discovering they have the map, so the best option would be saying Ron or Ginny saw them with the map." Ron shrugged, he didn't mind. They waved goodbye to Sirius as they made their way over to the Burrow. The twins were sitting at the table when they walked in, having just woke up for breakfast.

Harry sat across from them, and lowered his voice, "So, Fred, George. Sirius was talking to us about his days at school, and he mentioned something him and his friends made. You might recognize the names they signed this item with."

"Oh? And what would these names be?" Fred asked. He was only aware of one thing they had with someone else (aside from their older brothers) names on it.

"Well, the ones who matter are Moony, Prongs, and Padfoot. Wormtail is a traitor and isn't important."

"So Sirius really is a Marauder?"

"I mean, we had our suspicions-"

"But we couldn't figure out the other names."

"Oh, well, he probably won't appreciate me telling you this right before he becomes your teacher, but Lupin was Moony, and my dad was Prongs."

George's eyes lit up in anticipation of the havoc they'd be able to wreak on the school with this knowledge.

"Why is Wormtail such a bad person?" Fred questioned.

"Wormtail was Peter Pettigrew." Realization dawned on the twins' faces, and the scowled. They were fully aware of what really happened to Peter, and what he had done.

George was the first to speak up, he looked at Fred, "Well, I guess we should give the map to him. We know the entire thing by heart anyway, and it is Harry's birthright."

"I suppose, and I guess he has proven himself worthy, he certainly knows his way around pulling a good prank or two."

"So we think we'll give you the map, though I assume that's why you asked."

Harry nodded, "Don't worry, I'll put it to good use. Just promise you won't bug Lupin about it. If you want answers, you'll have to go to Sirius. Remus takes his job as a teacher too seriously to give you any useful information. Unless you ask before school starts, maybe."

"We solemnly swear we will leave Moony alone." Harry laughed.

"Good. Now, I have yet to play Quidditch this summer, so why don't we go play? Ginny and I can use our new brooms."

The twins grinned, "Course, but why don't we ask Percy to play?"

Harry nodded and volunteered to go get him. He went upstairs and knocked on Percy's door, he answered a moment later.

"Yes, Harry?" He looked slightly frazzled, but in a good mood overall. (Probably already studying for his NEWTs.)

"We were wondering if you wanted to play Quidditch with us, the twins suggested it."

"They did? As in, Fred and George?"

"They are your brothers. They only tease you because you're their brother and it's their job, you know. They don't mean anything by it."

Percy thought for a moment and nodded, "I suppose. I was actually about to come down, I just made Head Boy."

"That's awesome! That's a real honor, just don't let it go to your head." Percy cast a sidelong glance at Harry, he had grown used to hearing Harry spout phrases that made him sound more mature than his age usually dictated, but this one struck him hard. His crowning joy, the thing that set him apart from his brothers was his accomplishments. Of course, Bill had been prefect and Head Boy as well, but he had always been a free-spirit of sorts, and didn't conform to the typical idea of his titles. Percy shook himself and ran after Harry towards the paddock out back, stopping by the broom shed on the way.

* * *

They played for hours, and despite knowing Percy didn't care much for Quidditch, Harry knew Percy was enjoying himself. He even threw a few insults back at the others as they played (They were lame but he got points for effort). In the end, Percy, Harry, and Ron had ended up winning, but only because Ron had a lucky save at the last goal.

By the time they all trudged back into the Burrow, Harry was exhausted. He had been covering Ginny the entire time, and she certainly wasn't as rusty as he was, especially when it came to chasing. Molly had decided to prepare a large dinner when she saw them playing, but sent them all to wash up before they would be allowed to even touch the food. Harry came down and was surprised that Sirius wasn't there, though he supposed spending almost all his time with a forty year old in a thirteen year old's body got old. It was a lively evening, Percy had told everyone he was Head Boy and they had turned the dinner into a small celebration, and Fred and George only called him Bighead Boy once each.

* * *

 **Percy doesn't get enough love. Understandable during the time he wasn't talking to his family, but to be fair they kinda constantly gave him crap for being the "boring" one. Especially the twins, even if they didn't mean it in a bad way. Which is why Harry is being so kind to him and making sure he knows such things.**

 **~PH**


	20. Start of Year Three

**As promised! Year three is kinda short due to the way it worked out, but it's still several chapters. Then it's year four, which is pretty much half the book since that's when everything really goes down.**

* * *

The rest of the summer passed rather uneventfully, though Harry was rather amused by Mrs. Weasley and Sirius' reactions when Fudge tried having Dementors stationed near their homes. It was safe to say Fudge was unsuccessful, (and Harry had never been more amused by the man) though he did warn them that Dementors would be stationed at Hogwarts. Sirius wasn't happy about that at all, he knew exactly what the creatures felt like. But if it kept Harry safe he would deal with it. He knew better than most that Bellatrix was not someone to take lightly, especially since he knew every Death Eater in Azkaban (especially her) were out to get Harry, so naturally, she would come for him. Harry, however, thought differently.

"She won't come after me. She's completely obsessed with Voldemort. She wants revenge but she won't come after me unless she's on Voldemort's orders. She believes more than anyone that he's going to return, and she's going to do whatever it takes to bring him back, first and foremost." The quartet of time-travelers was in agreeance on this (Hermione was on vacation with her parents and thus was not yet consulted on the matter), and though Sirius disagreed wholeheartedly ("You can't trust her to be predictable."), he trusted them and told them to be careful.

* * *

September first snuck up on those still going to Hogwarts. As they said goodbye, Harry caught a glimpse of Rolf Scamander. The Hufflepuff was in what seemed to be a light conversation with his friends, probably catching up after the summer break, and Harry was struck with the sudden reminder that Luna was more alone than the rest of them. They were there, of course, and Luna had gone through much of her Hogwarts days more or less alone, but Harry knew better than almost anyone that once you had a connection with people, losing it hurts no matter how strong you were. He knew Luna was strong, but he couldn't help but feel bad. To lose her husband, even when he's right there. He shook himself and got on the train. Luna was already in their usual compartment with Hermione, talking about Hermione's vacation. Ginny and Ron joined them moments later, once their trunks were loaded. Harry noticed Remus was in the compartment, fast asleep. Probably for old times sake, and because Sirius had begged him just in case Dementors showed up. It was a quiet train ride there until the Dementors finally did show up, as Harry knew they would. Harry heard them before he saw them, and felt them before he heard them. The spine-chilling cold seeped into his body, threatening to suck all the happiness out of him. It was familiar in an old sort of way. He hadn't come across Dementors in a very long time. He took calming breaths, trying to keep the memories at bay. He was hesitant to cast a Patronus just yet. But when they tried to come into the compartment, he cast a noncorporeal Patronus Charm to ward them off. The air immediately warmed again, and Remus was on his feet with his wand out. He stared at Harry, shock clear on his face. He glanced at Luna and then back at Harry, and Harry answered his unasked questions.

"Don't worry. She's in the same situation, she knows. And as for the Patronus, I've known how to do one since my first third year, when you taught me. I can form a corporeal one as well, but the stag is kind of big for a train compartment. I thought I told you that." Remus shook his head, and Harry frowned but shrugged. Well, he knew now.

They arrived in Hogsmeade moments later and Harry was surprised as McGonagall pulled him into her office,

"Mr. Potter, I was informed that you performed a Patronus Charm on the train today. That's a very advanced form of magic, how on earth were you able to do it?" Harry noticed she looked tense, and he suspected it was because Dumbledore was listening in in some way or another, possibly hoping Harry would reveal his secret to his Head of House since he wouldn't tell the Headmaster.

"Well, after the Minister alerted us to the fact that Dementors would be posted at the school, Sirius got all paranoid and he made me practice every day. I know it's against the rules, but Sirius said if, as he put it, "Saves my backside, then screw the rules and be glad you know how to use it." He's sensitive about them so I went with it." Harry was improvising at this point, but it sounded enough like Sirius that McGonagall only sighed and lead him to the Great Hall.

Harry told the others what had happened as soon as he sat down, and he noticed he had missed the sorting ceremony. He didn't think he had been in McGonagall's office that long, but he wasn't overly concerned. Harry only briefly listened to Dumbledore's warning about the Dementors, it's not like he had any intention of sneaking out this year, and if he did, he would use the Honeydukes passage that no one knew about. He wasn't an idiot.

* * *

A week into the school year, the newspaper was filled with stories of Bellatrix Lestrange sightings, though none of them near each other. One said she was spotted in London, (though Harry thought this may have been Andromeda), another said she was on the outskirts of Hogsmeade, and another said Albania (Harry thought this was the most likely). Harry knew he should be worried by this, but he also knew it was important for Voldemort to come back because he had to kill Harry before he could die. Complicated, yes. But Harry didn't trust that they'd be able to keep Voldemort at bay forever and he wanted to end this as soon as possible. Still, Harry wasn't sure how he was going to kill Voldemort if he was being honest with himself. He had never used the killing curse in all his years, and he wasn't planning on it now. He supposed he would end up winging it anyway, his plans never seemed to play out like he wanted.

He was enjoying Professor Lupin's classes as much as he did last time, even though he knew everything Lupin was saying, he kept them on their toes. Sometimes stopping mid-sentence to ask them a question, or asking them to demonstrate a spell or technique. On boggart day, despite being much more confident, Neville was shown to still be terrified of Snape, and just as Remus was asking Neville to recall his grandmother's clothes, Harry suggested that Neville imagine Snape in one of Lockhart's robes, which resulted in something much more amusing than Snape in vulture hat. Harry even had his go with the boggart. There was a small moment as it was changing form that he thought it might turn into a family member's corpse, but it was a Dementor as always, and he quickly turned it into a wisp of smoke. He noticed Hermione was avoiding facing the boggart and knew it was because her worst fear was no longer failure, but her dead family, which could easily raise questions they would have no answers for. Ron, however, was still absolutely terrified of spiders and faced the boggart. Hermione was the only one not to face the boggart at the end of the lesson, thanks to Remus letting them out early once they explained the situation.

Their other classes were more or less the same. Harry and Ron had most definitely not taken Divination this time, but they did join Care of Magical Creatures and Study of Ancient Runes (Hermione insisted and they had to take two classes). Hermione was taking everything except Muggle Studies and Divination since she had no desire to deal with a time turner again. It seemed that without Harry in her class, Neville became the subject of Trelawney's death omens.

Harry couldn't help but laugh,"Don't worry Neville, from what I've heard, she predicts a new student to die each year. I'm pretty sure she would have said I was going to die just because of Voldemort. She's just looking for a reaction." This, along with McGonagall's confirmation of it, made Neville feel much better, though he was regretting taking Divination now. The one thing Harry did notice was that this year felt positively normal. No teachers trying to kill him, no giant snakes or mazes, no Ministry attacks or the threat of Voldemort rising. He realized that this is what most Hogwarts students must feel like, minus the whole actually being forty years old thing. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, none of whom had ever had a normal year, were enjoying it, though they figured it wouldn't last.

* * *

The truth was, it did last for a while, nothing especially exciting happened until their February trip to Hogsmeade. The trio was at The Three Broomsticks when a massive BANG shook the building. They made to run out the door, out of habit, but they were pulled back by Madame Rosmerta, along with the rest of the students in the pub.

"No, stay back. I can't have anyone getting hurt." So the three were forced to wait as a small group of wizards Harry could identify as Aurors rushed out of the pub.

"I hope they weren't drinking. They'll get themselves killed." Harry mumbled, and he looked around the pub, looking for a way to sneak out and find out what was going on.

He noticed a back door behind the bar and, after telling Ron and Hermione his plan, ducked behind Dean Thomas and made his way to the door. He closed it behind him and went around to the side alley, where he had a clear view of the scene that was unfolding. Based on who was there, Bellatrix had rounded up some Death Eaters that had escaped imprisonment (though Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle Sr. did not seem to be among them) and launched a full-scale attack on Hogsmeade. Aurors that hadn't been in the pub were in the fray as well, and Harry could pick out Kingsley, Dawlish, and Williamson. Tonks might have been there as well, though he didn't recognize any of them as her. But with her, he could never be sure.

He examined the situation and his surroundings. He ran behind another building to give himself a better vantage point as he sent off a couple stunning spells and disarmed two of the Death Eaters. The Aurors had been handling it well, but he had the advantage of surprise. He saw the Death Eaters dwindling and cursed as Bellatrix apparated away. He ran back to the pub before anyone else realized he was missing and snuck back in, waiting to hear any news of what happened. Even his trained eye couldn't make out what had happened before he had arrived, only that the three that had been in the pub before had definitely been drinking and were more a hindrance than a help, as he informed Ron and Hermione after returning to his spot behind them.

* * *

The next day, The Daily Prophet was filled with reports on what had happened, though they all mentioned the same thing- Bellatrix had escaped and Scrimgeour had been killed, along with two Aurors whose names Harry didn't recognize.

* * *

 **I actually forgot I killed Scrimgeour. Oops. Anyway, I might post one more chapter, but I haven't decided yet. Either way I'll post again in the next week or so. I'll even set a reminder on my phone!**

 **~PH**


	21. Bonding

**As promised, another chapter within a week. In other words, finals suck and I'm going to be glad to finally go home on Thursday.**

* * *

Hogsmeade trips were canceled until further notice following the attack, due to safety concerns. A rumor was going around that they had captured one of them but were having difficulties getting any information. Harry hoped it was Dolohov, it served him right in Harry's opinion. However, on a happier note, Harry was going to Care of Magical Creatures soon. The trio had visited Hagrid before their first lesson and, under the guise of congratulating him, talked about his lesson plans, and they had convinced Hagrid to save the bigger creatures for later. Now, several months into the year, they trekked towards Hagrid's hut and realized he had a necklace of dead ferrets over his shoulders, and Harry suspected he was about to meet Buckbeak again.

Hagrid greeted everyone with a smile and brought them to a clearing that was devoid of snow in the forest. Harry saw Buckbeak and smiled, even volunteering when Hagrid asked. Harry approached the Hippogriff with caution, bowing low as he did. After a moment, Buckbeak bowed back, and Harry reached up to pet him, stroking the soft feathers of his head. He did not have a chance to ride the Hippogriff, as Hagrid said it was too cold for riding. Hagrid had the students split into groups and attempt the gain the Hippogriffs approval. Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle went to Buckbeak, and they seemed to be fine with the Hippogriff at first, but Hermione, who had been keeping a close eye on them, noticed as Draco opened his mouth, his usually haughty expression in place. She sent a nonverbal Langlock in his direction to quickly shut him up. He found himself unable to speak and started flailing, drawing Hagrid's attention. He looked towards the boys and noticed just as Crabbe started lumbering towards the creature.

"Oh no, yeh don'." Hagrid pulled Crabbe back by the collar, "Yeh gotta show some respect 'fore yeh try to pet 'em!"

Draco continued his frantic movements and Hagrid's attention returned to him, "Ah, seems yeh've been Langlocked, best head to the Hospital Wing, I don' know the counter fer tha' jinx. End 'o class anyway." Hagrid lead the class back to the main grounds and sent them off towards their classes as he brought Draco to the Hospital Wing.

* * *

Two weeks after the Hogsmeade incident, Harry noticed the Prophet had gone silent on reported sightings. Perhaps Bellatrix had gone in search of Voldemort. He hoped so at least. Harry wasn't sure how this year was going to play out at this point. It was so different from what third year had once been, and he was worried they'd changed too much. At this point, it was probable that Hogsmeade trips would be canceled completely for the time being, but he doubted it would last. Afterall, the trips had continued even in sixth year, when Voldemort was very publicly in power.

Ginny was rather upset by this, as her supply to Honeydukes was completely cut off. That was until the twins along with Harry and Ron offered to sneak into the sweet shop and get some. They'd pay for what they took, of course, but they couldn't be spotted.

Ginny grinned when they offered, "Fine. But if you get caught I want in on it. If you really want to lose the House Cup so badly, that's one way to do it."

"It's more me trying to exemplify that fact that Dumbledore is determined to make us win the House Cup. It's ridiculous, I'm pretty sure we could end up with zero points by the end of the year, and Ravenclaw could have a thousand points, and he would give us enough points to win."

"Why is that? I've never known him to give out points, let alone hundreds." Percy had entered through the portrait hole mid-rant and picked up the gist of it.

"I'm pretty sure he thinks it'll make me happy. And if I'm happy, I don't question decisions he makes, despite previous evidence to the contrary. I mean, I get that he's supposed to be this wise old man who knows what he's doing, and I do trust him to an extent, but I have my own goals that don't necessarily line up with his. Besides, if age was really the biggest factor in trustworthiness, then we should trust Voldemort a whole lot more." Percy, Fred, and George looked at Harry like he was psychotic, "Well, he would be about seventy years old by this time. He was born back in the twenties."

"How in the world do you know that?"

"Well, after all that stuff in the Chamber last year, I found out his real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle. After that, it was only a matter of looking at the old school registry in the library." The twins exchanged looks that clearly showed Harry had given them an idea. What it was, he had no idea, but he figured it would be exciting and probably not entirely legal. They said their goodbyes before making their way up to their dormitory.

"Well, seeing as I have a test for Transfiguration tomorrow, I best go study." Percy left for his own dorm, bag slung over his shoulder. Harry sighed and rolled over the back of one of the couches, falling face first onto the cushions. Ginny laughed and sat on his feet.

"What could possibly be the matter?" She asked. Harry groaned into the couch before turning his head to the side to answer.

"This entire year. I mean," He paused and cast Muffliato around them, "It's the first time we don't know what's going on, I really shouldn't mind, and I know that, but it was kind of nice knowing what was going to happen. And we don't know how this is going to affect the rest of what happens, or even if it's still going to be even similar to what happened before. What if we changed it too much and nothing is the same? GOD! Why am I suddenly so worried about all this?"

"Because you're in a thirteen year old body?" Hermione suggested, and Harry groaned again.

"Why do I have to go through this AGAIN? It was bad enough the first time." The people around him laughed, though they were all going through the same thing, Harry had always been particularly moody as a teenager. Most likely, they now knew, because he'd been a Horcrux the entire time, with a direct link to Voldemort.

"Well, anyway." Hermione sat down on one of the chairs, "I'm sure everything will be fine, it always works out in the end, you know it does."

Harry pulled his legs out from under Ginny and sat up, "I also know that the last time we just went at it without any prior knowledge over fifty people died in the Battle of Hogwarts alone. We have this chance and if we squandered it then this entire thing is a big waste of time!" Harry was barely keeping his voice below a shout, and Ginny placed a calming hand on his shoulder.

"Harry. It's ok, we'll figure it out. Bellatrix escaped last time too. If she escaped a few years early, there's nothing we can do about it, we just need to focus on what's going on and get through the rest of the year. The Triwizard is next year, so focus on that. Are you going to let yourself be entered?"

Harry reluctantly nodded, "I hate that I have to, but I need to make it into that graveyard. It's the only way to end this quicker than I before. But I need to be on my feet, it's going to be Bellatrix and not Pettigrew that's resurrecting him. It's also the only way I'm going to keep Cedric out of the graveyard. I'm not going to be so generous in making it a tie this time." Hermione told everyone to shut up and removed Muffliato as Seamus and Dean walked in, and Ginny quickly removed her hand from Harry's shoulder.

"Hey Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny." Dean waved as Seamus said hi. They waved back, hoping they would walk past, but the two sat down in couches around them to start their homework. Conversation was reduced to the occasional question about homework, or small talk before Harry decided he needed a break. Without a word, he got up and left the room, letting his mind wander as he let his feet take him wherever.

He ended up on the Quidditch pitch, and he decided to do some flying. He retrieved his Firebolt from the Broomshed and took to the air. It whipped through his hair and robes, and he was instantly calmer. Flying had always been one of the surefire ways to calm him down, and he blew off some steam, doing loops and diving as low as he dared before pulling even to the ground. He would have given Wood a heart attack. He was doing laps around the pitch when he noticed another presence. It was Ginny on her Nimbus 2000, flying up to where he was. He slowed to a gentle glide as Ginny joined him.

"Hey, you ok?" She asked as she got close enough.

"Yeah, I just needed to get my mind off of things. It's hard being thirteen again."

"I get what you mean. I mean, there are some things that are nice, but it really sucks not being able to be together as much." She glanced around the pitch, "Not playing Quidditch also sucks."

"I wish I could help. But at least next year is the Triwizard Tournament, which means the Yule Ball is coming up. When that comes around, it'll all be fine. It won't be the same, but we can be there for each other without it looking suspicious. Plus, we won't have to deal with Ron and Hermione being all grumpy because they can't snog each other."

Ginny laughed, "I have a feeling they won't be able to keep their hands off each other by then. At least, Ron won't be able to. It'll certainly give us something to hold over their heads."

"I'm just glad I don't have to go through another seven years of them being up to their ears in sexual tension."

"I'm sure the other plus is that I don't plan on dating anyone else."

"I should hope not. I rather like it when you don't date others." Ginny laughed again, and the two fell into easy conversation as they glided around the pitch. They would have raced, but Harry's broom was too fast for even Ginny to have a chance. The sun had started going down and was hiding almost completely within the trees before they realized how late it was. They glided back down to the ground, and Harry couldn't resist giving her a hug after they landed. They put their brooms in the shed and made their way to the Common Room. They had to duck behind three doorways on the way up to avoid being harassed by Filch, but they made it up without much problem. As they entered the Common Room, Hermione and Ron saw them and quickly walked over.

"Where have you been? We looked around for forever!"

"Are you kidding? We've been down on the pitch this entire time!" Ginny said, and Harry looked slightly shocked.

"How did you not check there first? Where else did you check?"

Hermione blushed slightly, "Everywhere else."

"Including the Quidditch Pitch?" Ginny laughed.

"No. We figured it was too cold for anyone to be flying. It's late February, it's freezing out."

"Is it really? We didn't notice." Harry looks surprised, he had been so focused on his thoughts and then Ginny that he hadn't noticed. Ginny seemed to be feeling similarly, but she shrugged it off, and Ron sighed,

"A couple others noticed you two have been missing. A few of them are suspicious."

"What, did they think we were snogging in a broom closet? I'm twelve. I found him flying and joined him." Ginny said this mostly for the benefit of the students she knew were listening in on the conversation from just beyond her sight. She had been one of those students quite a few times. Harry nodded, catching on.

"It's not like we planned it. I was trying to blow off some steam and Ginny came by to talk. We lost track of time, that's it. Honestly."

Hermione and Ron both shrugged, "Just relaying information. Anyway, we better head off to bed."

Harry and Ginny agreed and started heading up the stairs, and Harry heard the quiet sound of several sets of steps running up the stairs. Harry and Ron sent smiles towards Ginny and Hermione before they went their separate ways and up the stairs to the dormitory.

* * *

 **Hagrid is literally the hardest person to write dialogue for. Even Krum and Fleur are easier. (Which is my sad excuse for why he doesn't appear more in the story.)**

 **~PH**


	22. A Busy Day

**Sorry, it took so long, I had to get into the swing of a new schedule this semester before I could work on non school things. Should get another chapter edited and posted soon.**

* * *

Harry and Ginny were soon the center of the Hogwarts rumor mill. Many believed they were already dating, and some were betting on when they were going to make it official. Fred and George had been facilitating the rumors and making a large profit off of them. Harry didn't have a problem with this, but only because he knew the profits were all going towards Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. He was already planning on giving them his Triwizard winnings next year, but if they could earn even more money they might be able to develop their tricks and pranks with more precision. Maybe they could even find people to test on that weren't underage. God only knew they didn't need them testing them on first years again. Percy seemed blissfully unaware of the underground betting ring that had its headquarters in Gryffindor Tower, and Ginny, Ron, and Harry were sure to keep him out of the room when the twins were taking bets. Hermione did her part by not telling him when they were.

March brought about the beginning of teachers cracking down on students because four months was, according to them, the perfect amount of time to prepare for final exams. Harry was sitting in Transfiguration and, during a moment of him actually dividing his complete attention to something he'd learned years ago, heard as McGonagall began reviewing material from the beginning of the year, including Animagus Transfiguration. He had gotten so wrapped up in keeping a low profile and Bellatrix Lestrange that he had forgotten that he'd planned on becoming an Animagus again. He briefly wondered if he would get bonus points for showing up as an owl to his Transfiguration final, but he immediately dismissed the thought, considering he was supposed to be an average powered wizard and wasn't supposed to be drawing attention to himself.

His musings were interrupted by McGonagall. You could always count on her to catch you daydreaming. "Mr. Potter, I had asked how you can differentiate between a wizard's Animagus form and a natural animal."

"Sorry Professor, I got lost in thought. Well, it's very hard to unless you are able to study them. Animagus animals have markings that match a characteristic of the wizard that transforms into it, such as glasses or a scar." He himself had a red mark on his forehead as an owl.

"Very good Mr. Potter, ten points for Gryffindor." Harry sighed in resignation. He'd since given up on the idea of Gryffindor ever losing the House Cup while he was a student here. Besides, he could never bring himself to be completely frustrated with McGonagall, especially when it came to House points. It may have been frustrating as a child, but she was exceedingly fair when it came to dishing out reward and punishment. He was counting on a lack of a big end of the year disaster that would force him to step in, and so far the year was mostly uneventful. Gryffindor was in last by over a hundred points, partly due to Ron switching out Malfoy's telescope in Astronomy with one of Fred and George's prototypes (he'd made sure it wouldn't hurt him too bad, though.) But the biggest thing had been when Harry had accidentally dropped a rather large pot of Puffapods on the floor of the greenhouse. It had been so bad that classes had to be canceled for the rest of the day so they could be cleared out. He'd gotten a lot off for that, plus detention. It was almost three, but Harry convinced Professor Sprout he'd tripped over a root, which was true.

If it hadn't been for Lupin's class, there was a chance Gryffindor would be in first, even with Harry's trip up. Harry had offhandedly joked about how nothing he could do would ever keep Gryffindor from winning the House Cup in the end. Lupin had been there and took it as a personal challenge of sorts. He frequently found the most mundane reasons to take points away from Harry and the others. He was still sure to award other Gryffindors their proper points, though. Once, and Harry knew it was his inner Marauder, he rigged the desks to buck off anything placed on them for the entire class period and had somehow gotten Harry to take the blame. Unfortunately for that class period, Harry had already charmed the board to change anything written on it into an insult aimed at either Lupin or whatever he'd been trying to write about it. (Harry had gotten the idea from the Marauder's Map.) Very little got done during that class period, besides an unprecedented amount of points being lost during a single class period, breaking the previous record of the Marauders themselves, who had started a full-on revolution during one of their sixth year Defense Against the Dark Arts classes.

While at first, he'd been concerned about being outcast again because of all the points he'd lost, Fred and George were quick to point out that by last year, the whole of Gryffindor had figured out that Harry would probably have to actually kill a person to lose Gryffindor the House Cup. Besides, they added, Hermione answered so many questions it pretty much made up for it. It was a shame, Harry thought, that it had taken two years for the Gryffindors to realize this. His experience in his first year was probably why he had such a problem with House points. He'd spent months of his eleven year old life shunned by most of the school because he'd lost his House some points. No one should have to experience that. Granted, most people wouldn't be caught out of bed with multiple other students after smuggling a dragon into the custody of dragon studiers from Romania, but it still shouldn't happen.

* * *

"So, Harry." Fred and George appeared on either side of Harry on his way to Potions later that day.

"Think you could give us a heads up as to when you plan on making it official with our dearest sister?"

"You do realize she's twelve, right?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course we do Harry."

"But think of it this way."

"If you're dating her,"

"That means some other slimy git can't." That was a fair point. Dean hadn't been bad, but Michael Corner had been, well, worse.

"Of course, we would prefer you wait."

"As she is still our sister."

"But we know you well enough that we wouldn't feel too bad,"

"If we were to accidentally play some part in an accident involving you." Harry tried his best to look intimidated by the two, though he could feel a smile on his face.

"Ah, but then who would be there to provide you with a direct line to two of the Marauders? We both know they'd be more than willing to share a couple secrets with me. Besides, we all know that you'd love it if we did start dating. Not that that's going to happen anytime soon." Harry glanced at his watch, "Anyway, I think I've stalled just long enough to be late for Potions. I'll see you later."

He finally got to class, where Snape was already instructing the class. "Twenty points from Gryffindor for tardiness and interrupting class, Mr. Potter."

Harry shrugged and found his seat next to Ron, "Miss anything interesting?"

"Ten points from Gryffindor for talking, Mr. Potter."

Harry shrugged again and started his Shrinking Solution. Since messing up a potion could actually result in serious injury, Potions was the once class he made sure to keep perfect. He had just finished and was corking up a sample when Ron tripped over his robes and knocked both his and the rest of Harry's cauldron's contents everywhere, shrinking all of the tables and chairs nearby, and, unfortunately, Seamus' shoes. Snape took ten points from both of them for the incident, and an additional twenty because Ron no longer had a potion to submit. Class ended shortly after, and the trio packed up their things and got out as soon as quickly as possible.

"Well, Snape was feeling generous. We only lost seventy points."

"That's because you missed the first fifteen minutes of class." Hermione pointed out. Even though they all already knew the information they were learning in class, she highly disapproved of Harry's chronic tardiness to Potions.

"Oh no! How will I ever learn how to make a Shrinking Solution?" Harry's voice was dripping with sarcasm, and Hermione conceded the point.

"Oh very well, I'm still not sure why you're so determined to lose the House Cup. Aren't you the one that convinced James to try and win the Cup his first year?"

"That's because I was tired of getting letters from McGonagall telling me how much trouble he'd gotten in for his big prank he pulled that week. So I told him if he won the House Cup I would give him a couple extra Galleons for Wizard's Wheezes."

"Ah, bribery, the most efficient form of parenting." Ron joked. Hermione, however, didn't seem amused.

"I wouldn't call it bribery, more like giving him a goal." Harry defended, "And it was Ginny's idea. I think she was sicker of the letters than I was."

"Oh, fine. I get it. The House Cup is simply a conspiracy to get everyone to behave themselves and encourages House rivalries that Dumbledore apparently wants to dissolve. Is that what you want to hear?"

"It's actually because of what happened first year. Remember when we were bullied by an entire school for losing House points?" Hermione clearly did, because she immediately dropped the conversations as they entered the Great Hall for lunch. Ginny and Luna also had free at the moment, so the trio joined them where they were seated at the Gryffindor table.

"Hi Ginny, hi Luna. What are you doing at the Gryffindor table?" Hermione greeted them from across the table as they sat down. The two girls had Transfiguration books open in front of them so it looked like they were studying.

"Oh, hello Hermione. Hello Harry and Ron. I'm observing." Luna looked up from her book, pushing a lock of stray hair from her face. Ginny looked up and smiled at the three of them.

"So, how many points did you manage to lose today?"

"A little less than a hundred. We just worked on an actual potion in Potions today, so we didn't lose much there. And we probably won't lose anymore today, since the only class we have left is Care of Magical Creatures, and we actually try in that class."

"Slow day then, huh?"

Harry shrugged, "Tomorrow's Defense Against the Dark Arts, so we'll make it up then."

"And we usually lose a couple points in Ancient Runes. It's a tough class." Ron added. Since neither he nor Harry had taken it previously, they actually had to completely devote their attention to the class.

The five of them spoke for the rest of Ginny and Luna's free time until the two had to leave for their next classes. Not much later, the group left the Hall themselves to get to Care of Magical Creatures on time. Aside from Lupin and Snape's classes, they did try to be on time. When they arrived, Harry could see that they would not be having a practical lesson today, but rather, Hagrid would be reviewing what they had learned like every other teacher had been. These days did not make for a fun time, and Harry could feel himself sympathizing with James and Al when they would complain about the amount of work they had to do over break. And they hadn't gone through it twice. But, the trio made it through and was able to enjoy the rest of the day goofing off with Fred and George before dinner, where Flitwick took fifty points from Gryffindor for them charming the teachers' goblets to fill with nothing vinegar, even though he quietly admitted it was impressive charmwork. It was actually the first time in a while Harry had been upset about losing House points. Mostly because it really _had_ been some tricky charmwork to bypass the charms already placed on the goblets.

* * *

 **If you can believe it, I actually dropped some of the emphasis on Harry wanting to lose points. I blame my confused high school self for it. Still, the chapter itself was actually a decent filler chapter. Like I said, I should be editing/updating again soon.**

 **~PH**


	23. Easter Break

**It's bad when you have sporadic updates for a book you've already finished. Even so, glad you're all sticking around and enjoying the book! It was super fun to write, and I've enjoyed going back and making edits where it's needed.**

* * *

The second weekend of March came and along with it, the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff Quidditch match. Harry wasn't nervous in any way, but Wood was a nervous wreck, demanding his players get plenty of vitamin C and eat healthy to make sure they were all in top shape for the match. It had gotten to the point that Harry was debating getting sick just to spite him. Oliver hadn't let Harry, or any of the others, even touch dessert since the flu outbreak. Sure, a pepper-up potion and a day in the Hospital WIng would cure it, but Wood was not taking any chances when it came to Quidditch. It seemed to pay off though because they had the full team to face off against Hufflepuff's team, which had one replacement Chaser. Not that Wood let that be a factor ("Hufflepuff is usually a Chaser down, they prepare for this type of situation.")

The entire school was in attendance, with the stands evenly split between the two teams. Ravenclaws cheered with the Gryffindors, as a Hufflepuff win would put them into first in the House Cup, while Slytherins cheered with Hufflepuffs because their rivalry with Gryffindor kept them cheering for the Hufflepuffs, even though they'd benefit more from a Gryffindor win, like the Ravenclaw. The match was fiercer than any of the others Harry had played in the past few years, and he and Cedric had both spotted the Snitch three times, but each time it got lost in the throng of Chasers vying for the Quaffle. Harry saw Chasers on both sides score multiple times throughout the game, the score was 130-100 for Gryffindor, and Harry saw the Snitch on the far side of the pitch, but Cedric was closer to it at the moment. He feigned a sighting towards the middle of the pitch, hoping to draw Cedric away from the Snitch, and dove. He noticed Cedric wasn't far behind, just as Harry hoped, Cedric had followed after Harry and away from the Snitch. Harry got closer to the ground than he needed to, but eventually, he pulled up off the ground and shot past Cedric to where he had actually seen the Snitch. Cedric whirled around midair as he realized what Harry had done. He shot after Harry but it was pointless, as Harry was now closer and had the better broom. Harry was within inches of it when he noticed a Bludger coming straight for him out of the corner of his eye. He could tell as soon as he saw it that it was going to hurt. It had probably come from the burly Hufflepuff Beater with a wicked swing. He was tempted to swerve and avoid it, but he was ready to end this game. So he kept his eye on the Snitch and flipped upside down on his broom, still flying forward. He heard and felt the Bludger whiz past his fingers, which were now on the top of his broom, but he kept his eye on the Snitch. He reached forward, and his fingers closed around the Snitch, finally ending the game. He flipped back over and he lowered himself to the ground, he was suddenly overwhelmed by a flurry of people, everyone was pelting him with questions or celebrating their victory, and it took him fifteen minutes to finally make it to the safety of the changing rooms.

Wood followed him shortly after, along with the rest of his teammates, "That was brilliant Harry! We should start practicing that in drills!"

"Absolutely NOT Oliver. Harry, what were you thinking?" Angelina sounded concerned, frantically checking to make sure he was alright.

"That there was a Bludger heading towards me and I didn't want to lose the Snitch?" He tried, which only prompted Oliver to point out the more reckless than strictly necessary thing he'd done.

"And that dive! I've never seen anything so beautiful! I don't think even Wronski himself could have performed such a perfect feint!"

"Harry, professionals don't pull stunts like that! You could have fallen off your broom!" Angelina refused to let Oliver's gushing stop her.

"I do that dive all the time while you all are doing Chaser drills. I guess the upside down thing wasn't the best idea, but I've seen professional games before, and Seekers do it all the time if you're paying attention. I know I probably shouldn't have done it, but it was in the moment and I just reacted." The entire team was staring at him, the girls in shock, Oliver looked like he had just won the lottery, and the twins were grinning ear to ear.

"Well, Harry,"

"We agree with Oliver."

"That was bloody brilliant!" Harry laughed, and the team finished getting changed back into their school robes, still talking about the match. Angelina and Katie had apparently had a really good play against the Slytherins, while Alicia had been a beast on defense today. Harry barely made it out of the changing room when he was mobbed by a flurry of brown hair. Hermione had made her appearance. The others weren't far behind, but they were too busy discussing the match to rush over.

"Don't scare us like that Harry!" Hermione looked similar to Angelina as she made sure he was alright. Ginny looked more amused than worried as she walked over.

"I thought you promised to save that for when I was on the team. Some friend you are, Potter."

"Oh, I'm Potter now? Besides, it was kinda a gut reaction to the Bludger about to hit me in the stomach." Ginny hit his shoulder.

"You could have avoided it and you know it."

"But then I would have lost sight of the Snitch, and where would we be then?" Harry joked as he slung his bag over his shoulder.

"Probably still watching the game. I can see it now, you swerve to avoid the Bludger, losing sight of the Snitch for a brief moment before spotting it again less than a minute later and going after it, and then catching it right-side up like a normal person."

"Sounds boring to me. I like my method better." Ginny rolled her eyes and started back towards the castle, the others following.

"It would have been fine if you didn't wait so long with that dive. It was a bit much if you ask me."

Luna laughed, "At least he didn't cast a corporeal Patronus in the middle of the match, that may have been overdoing it."

"I considered it Luna. I figured, if I'm going to do this, I may as well throw in everything else on top of it. I was going to cast a corporeal Patronus and then claim Voldemort has returned all for the glory and attention."

Luna nodded solemnly, "It's good to see you've learned to fight the Nargles."

"At least it's not Blibbering Humdingers."

Hermione laughed and tried to play along, "Of course not, Blibbering Humdingers are the reason Nargles are so hard to find nowadays."

Luna giggled at Hermione's attempt.

* * *

The rest of March passed uneventfully, and Easter Break was upon them. Hermione was going to her family's house for break, and Luna was going home as well, while the Weasleys went to the Burrow and Harry went to his house with Sirius, but he'd be at the Weasley's for most of break anyway. They had all sat in their usual compartment on the way back before parting ways at King's Cross.

Harry was surprised to see Bill sitting with Mr. Weasley when they arrived at the Burrow. He stood up and extended his hand, "Hello, you must be Harry. I've heard a lot about you."

"Yeah, you must be Bill. I've heard quite a bit about you as well." Harry responded as he shook his hand, "Though if you're getting your information out of books, I'd rather you take whatever you read with a grain of sand."

Bill laughed, "I'll keep that in mind. I would ask you to do the same with what you hear from my lovely siblings." The Weasley siblings protested his statement, which only caused him to laugh more.

"So, Bill," George asked after they had calmed down, "What's the special occasion?"

"Yeah," Fred continued, "You must've had to go out of your way. It's not like we're across the border from Egypt."

"I was assigned as part of the transfer squad for a shipment. Well, I volunteered for it." He amended himself, "I figured it was perfect timing, what with everyone being on Easter holidays."

"So, I'm guessing the elusive Charlie Weasley will not be joining us then?" Harry looked at Ron, "I'm not sure I believe he exists."

"Oh, believe me, he does." He held up his arm, and pulled his sleeve down, revealing a burn down his arm. "This is from when he briefly gained the power to breathe fire at three. It's no wonder he became a dragon tamer."

Harry laughed, that story had somehow eluded him, despite his years with the Weasleys. This started a discussion on various accidental magic stories, Fred and George had found it hysterical that Harry had ended up on the roof of his school, while Mrs. Weasley was tutting about the behavior of Dudley. Harry's favorite (though he had heard it before) was when Fred and George had shrunk all the font in Percy's books to the point where he couldn't read them after he ratted them out for turning Ron's teddy bear into a spider. Ron, who had apparently forgotten this, laughed when he heard it. Hugo had done the same thing to Rose when she had been so engrossed in a book, she ignored him for five hours.

Mrs. Weasley walked back into the room with dinner not much later, and the conversation continued as they ate, before Mrs. Weasley shooed them all off to bed around nine thirty, though they all stayed up much later than that.

* * *

Easter break was more interesting than Harry had anticipated. It was too cold for table wars, unfortunately, but the potato fight that had been started by the twins while peeling them made up for it. Potatoes flew everywhere as all the children, save Percy but including Bill, got involved. Luna walked in in the middle of it and ended up with a face full of half-mashed potatoes. She looked surprised for a moment before she took the blob off her face and walked slowly over to George, who had been the one to throw it and mushed it into his face.

She then turned to look at everyone else, "We should probably clean up before dinner."

The room was cleaned rather quickly, with the help of Bill, and the Weasleys enjoyed a nice meal with Luna and Harry until some food they had missed on the ceiling fell onto Mrs. Weasley's head halfway through the meal. The twins looked like they were viewing a time bomb as a moment of silence filled the air. Then Mrs. Weasley started laughing, which caused everyone else to start laughing, and soon, the entire house was filled with laughter. Sirius walked in from work moments later, took one look at Mrs. Weasley, and fell on the floor, holding his stomach from laughing.

Of course, Mrs. Weasley made all the kids clean up after dinner, but everyone thought it was worth it, so they didn't complain much. Though, Mrs. Weasley was much less amused when she walked into her kitchen a half hour later, only to find it filled with bubbles, with the six who had to clean up all with bubble beards. Ron had been the only one to speak as she silently fumed,

"Well, at least it's clean."

* * *

 **Good ol'** **Ron. He's honestly one of my favorite characters. Anyway, I really wanted to write Bill a little bit so I just put him in there.**

 **~PH**


	24. Foiled Plans and Pranks

**Yay for new chapters!**

* * *

After a relatively peaceful Easter, it was only a few days before the kids were off to school on the Hogwarts Express once more. Harry and Ron were looking forward to at least a few days without the twins' pranks. Harry's plan of telling the twins to lay off Percy every once in a while had backfired and they were now targeting him and Ron. While they did have the advantage of knowing a lot of the twins' arsenal, they still managed to catch them by surprise sometimes and it was exhausting avoiding the pranks on a daily basis.

They were getting ready to leave the Burrow when the final prank of the holidays was revealed. To everyone's surprise, it wasn't the work of Fred and George. It was Bill. He had charmed everyone's trunks to eject anything put into them, it took an hour to figure out how to counter the charms, as Bill conveniently volunteered for the last minute necessities trip to the local village and was nowhere to be found. They made it to the train with less than a minute to spare, and they practically had to leap onto the train to make it. The train seemed nearly empty compared to the beginning of the year (which Harry suspected Bill found hilarious, even if he did feel bad about it). There were hardly any fifth or seventh years on the train due to the quickly approaching O. and N.E. and many fourth years had stayed as well, going through their "rebellious" phases as they avoided family whenever possible. Despite this, Draco Malfoy still somehow managed to stumble across the compartment Harry and his friends were seated. As he opened the compartment door, Ron saw him and stifled a groan.

Harry looked up and sighed, "What is it now, Malfoy?"

"What, I can't just stop by? Hiding something, Potter?"

"No, you can't. In fact, you're known for only showing up to cause problems. So I ask again, what is it now?" Harry told him, ignoring his second question.

"Just wondering what you five are planning. After all, you seem to talk about nothing at all over entire train rides. I've never heard a peep from this compartment."

"Are you telling us you frequent the door to our compartment, Draco?" Luna looked at him with slight amusement clear behind the dreamy expression she had on. Ginny snorted as Draco glared at the Ravenclaw.

"Of course not. The only reason I'm even here is-" Harry could hear the slight hesitation in his voice before he continued his sentence, "Because no one else is bothering to ask and I'm sick of hearing about Potter and his friends."

Harry had a sneaking suspicion as to why Draco was acting so weird and the source of his hesitation. Draco was sitting in this compartment on Snape's orders, which were Dumbledore's orders if Harry was correct. It wasn't the best feeling, but he supposed the suspicion was warranted, considering the five of them really were hiding something big. Unsurprisingly, Hermione had also figured this out, and she was quick to come up with a reason for Draco to leave the compartment.

"Well, we're getting rather close, we should probably get into our robes." Harry and Ron quickly got to their feet and left, pushing Draco out before them so the girls could change. Thankfully, Draco left once he was forced out so Harry and Ron could change in peace after the girls had finished. Once they were all changed and back in the compartment they took a moment to put their charms back up before talking about what had just happened.

"Alright, we all know that Dumbledore is suspicious that we aren't who we say we are." Luna spoke first, "But we can't let him know that we know that. Not yet." Ginny and Hermione nodded in agreement, and Harry was struck with just how different Luna was. Sure, she was still eccentric and that was what made her Luna, but she had a more serious air about her as well. Harry returned to the conversation as Hermione been talking,

"Play dumb for a while, don't let him know we're on to him. You two," She pointed to Harry and Ginny, "Try to avoid losing your temper and revealing something."

Ginny and Harry both looked at her with a glare, "What's that supposed to mean?" Ginny asked with a raised eyebrow. Hermione raised her own eyebrows, she pointed at Ginny,

"Weasley temper," She turned to Harry, "Need I remind you about fifth year?"

"Hey, I've calmed down a lot."

"Harry, you were just yelling like crazy a few months ago."

Harry waved his hand, "I blame the hormones."

This effectively broke up the tension in the compartment and while they tried to turn the conversation to something more age appropriate, but they were all still worried. They arrived at Hogsmeade late that night and took the carriages back up to the school. They had an hour before they had to return to their dormitories and spent it playing Exploding Snap in the inner Courtyard until Percy came by to warn them that Snape was starting to make his rounds before continuing on as if he hadn't seen them. They looked at each other and laughed, perhaps Percy wasn't a _complete_ stickler for the rules. They waved goodbye as they made their way to their respective dormitories for the night.

* * *

Harry woke up late the next morning, and the boys' dormitory was empty. He walked down to the Common Room, but that was empty besides a few first years. He sighed, honestly, couldn't Ron have woken him up? It certainly wasn't like Hermione to let him sleep in. As he entered the Great Hall, he could see why. Ron and Hermione were sitting together at the Gryffindor table and laughing. He smiled and walked over,

"Hey guys, getting a little close, eh?" They both looked up, and Hermione blushed slightly.

"We were going to wake you up, but Ginny said she would."

"So we came down here. Guess we lost track of time."

"I wonder why?" Harry teased, and Ron shrugged but smiled at Hermione. "Where is Ginny anyway?"

Ron and Hermione both shrugged, "We last saw her in the Common Room. We thought she was going to wake you up." Harry frowned, Ginny was obviously planning something, but what, he had no idea. He was about to open his mouth to ask if they had any idea when his vision was obscured by a set of hands,

"Ginny?" He grabbed her wrists and pulled them away from his face, turning around. He saw Ginny, smiling.

"Come on, we have a surprise for you." Harry knew she meant herself and Luna, so he got up and followed her out of the hall. He could have sworn he heard a Slytherin whisper something about a broom closet. Honestly, she was twelve. He ignored the comment and continued following Ginny through the halls of the school.

They stopped just outside the potions dungeons and Harry felt the invisibility cloak fall over himself and Ginny. He turned around and saw Luna, who put her finger to her lips with a smile before pointing towards the entrance to the dungeons. Moments later, cries of outrage were heard from the room. Purple and lime green smoke poured from the room, followed by ten sixth year N.E.W.T students, all with purple hair and green skin. They were coughing and trying to clear away the smoke. Harry was biting the back of his hand to stop himself from laughing especially when Snape came out, having suffered the same fate. The only one that seemed to escape it was a Gryffindor Harry didn't recognize. He did notice the flask the boy was pocketing with a smile and a wink towards where the three of them were standing under the cloak.

Harry grinned they had returned to school only to find that half the seventh year Gryffindors had put together a massive study group over break and McGonagall had given them all twenty points for diligence. Apparently, Gryffindors doing what Ravenclaws do every day merits massive points. This had been Ginny and Luna's way of losing major points, though only for Gryffindor, apparently. Snape turned around and grabbed the Gryffindor by the arm, presumably leading him to Dumbledore's office. The three made their way out of the range of those still gathered outside before pulling off the cloak and dissolving into laughter, after finally calming down enough to speak, Harry turned to the two girls.

"So, how did you manage to keep the Gryffindor from getting hit? I assume it had something to do with the vial he pocketed?"

Ginny nodded, "I handed it to him and suggested he take it before Potions class."

"And I may have switched out some ingredients in Victoria Reese's potions kit for some thrown together Wheezes." Luna elaborated at Harry's questioning look, "I consulted the twins and they suggested a few things."

"I will never understand how they can know absolutely everything about pranking strategies and not be getting straight "O's", they're a lot smarter than people give them credit for."

"The problem is they spend more time pranking than applying themselves to classes. Course, it doesn't help that you've been helping them." They started laughing again when a cold voice interrupted them.

"I see you're celebrating, Potter."

* * *

An hour later, Harry and Ginny had managed to take the entire blame, and Luna was off scot-free because Ginny said she had told Luna about it afterward and that she had no part in it. Gryffindor was down a hundred points and the two had detention for two weeks. Harry was just glad they didn't say who it was with and Lupin owed him a favor for tricking Sirius into drinking Polyjuice and being stuck as Snape for an hour over Easter Break.

The next day, Harry hung back after Defense and walked up to Lupin's desk.

"I'm assuming you want me to offer to oversee your detentions?"

"It would be preferable. Especially since Snape still looks a little green."

Lupin grinned, "He's been a little green since your mum and dad became friends."

"He's been green since he _met_ my dad." Lupin laughed again.

"That much is true. Alright, I'll see what I can do about the detentions. I'm assuming you'd like Ms. Weasley to join us?"

"Unless you want us using those mirrors Sirius gave me. Besides, no need to take two teachers time up for a harmless little prank. Of course, from what I remember from having to organize all your old detention slips, you four took up several teachers times at once. I must ask, how did you manage to flood the Slytherin Common Room while all four of you were in detention?"

Remus sighed with a fond smile, "I'm not sure. It was James that managed it, he never told us." He shook himself, then looked at Harry, "Don't you have a class to get to?"

"I have potions next. There is no way I'm making an effort to get there on time. Snape seems to hate me even more now. I probably remind him too much of my dad, huh?"

"Most likely. You can take as long as you want to get there, but you can't stay here any longer unless I want to get in trouble."

Harry nodded and left, taking the long way to Potions class. On the way there, he bumped into Ginny.

"Hey, Ginny."

"Hi, Harry. Avoiding Potions class?"

"Well, I was talking to Lupin. He's going to try and take our detention, by the way. Figured I'd take the scenic route as long as I was late."

Ginny laughed, "Harry, you managed to make it to the seventh floor on the way to the dungeons, I hardly think that counts as scenic."

"Oh, details."

* * *

 **Oh, man fun Harry is fun to write for. That and his dynamic with Lupin has also been fun to really develop.**

 **~PH**


	25. The Rumor Mill

**Thanks to everyone who's been following! I think we're about halfway finished!**

* * *

Harry and Ginny were in Remus' office, the essays they were supposed to be writing were sitting on their desks. Instead, they were dueling non-verbally as Lupin watched, with a careful eye on the Marauders Map. Whenever someone got close, they would resume writing. McGonagall checked on them three times to ensure they weren't abusing Harry's relationship with Remus to goof off. They were, but she didn't know that. Especially with the text duplication spell Remus had developed in school to get out of having to write so much in detentions. Hermione and Ron stopped by halfway through their detention and briefly joined in the dueling, but mostly just sat on the desks together as Harry and Ginny dueled. Remus was careful to shoo them away before Flitwick came in. This continued for most of their detentions, besides the one McGonagall sat in on because Sirius had accidentally blown up his kitchen and needed Remus' help to fix it. That had been the dullest two hours of Harry's life.

By the time Harry and Ginny had served all their detentions, Ron and Hermione's continued closeness had become a very popular topic in the Hogwarts rumor mill, though it was still second to Cho and Cedric, according to Lavender Brown. How Harry had missed the constant glances when the other noticed the first time around, he would never know. It certainly explained why he'd never had a chance with her.

But for Harry, the most interesting rumor that had made its way through Hogwarts was the one Luna had brought to his attention one morning while she joined them at breakfast.

"Terry asked if it was true that I've been spiking your morning pumpkin juice to get into your circle of friends." Harry nearly spit out his orange juice in an effort to contain his laughter.

"What did you tell him?" Ginny asked with a smile.

"I told him that there was no possible way I could, as you all drink orange juice in the morning. Oddly enough, he wasn't convinced by my answer."

Ron grinned, "I mean, that is how we Weasleys became his friends. After all, what would The-Boy-Who-Lived want with the Weasleys? It's definitely not because we're just good people who aren't dependant on money for loyalty."

"Trying to imply something, Weasley?" Ron turned around and saw Draco. He'd been eavesdropping on their conversations since the train. Or, trying to. Third year Draco was one of the least covert people Harry had ever met. Even so, the eavesdropping had been grating on Harry's nerves lately, which was doing nothing to help his attempts to keep Malfoy from completely hating him.

"Eavesdropping again, Draco?" Hermione questioned, and Harry could almost see Malfoy straining against saying Mudblood.

"I'm more concerned with the fact Malfoy assumed he was talking about his family. Ron didn't name anyone specifically. He really didn't even imply it was your family." Ginny put in, and Luna nodded in agreement.

"He must be trying to warn us. Is your father bribing Ministry officials?"

"Oh, that's illegal, Luna." Ginny waved the notion, "Mr. Malfoy would never stoop so low as to openly bribe Ministry officials, though I am sure they appreciate the large donations he talks about so often."

"That makes much more sense." Luna turned back to Draco, "Is that what you were trying to tell us, Draco? Has your father gained his power from being generous with the money he has?"

Malfoy opened his mouth the respond, but instead whirled around, fuming.

Ron laughed once he was out of earshot, "You'd think he would get tired of us accusing his family of at least two crimes before he can get a word out."

"We didn't accuse his family of doing anything illegal last time. At least, not that I can think of." Harry pointed out.

Ron scoffed, "We might as well have, you told him about when his father dated Bellatrix, and then helpfully mentioned that he looks like her."

"I was just relaying a story Sirius told me over break. And besides, everyone in that family looks similar, probably because three-quarters of Purebloods are at least half Black."

"Except us Weasleys. Our closest Black relative is my great-great aunt once removed or something. But I think you're even more distant, aren't you?" Ron asked, and Harry nodded.

"Not that I plan to look too closely at the family tree anytime in the foreseeable future, but as far as I'm aware our relationship is distant." He glanced at his watch. "Ron, we need to get going if we want to get to Defense on time."

"Since when are you worried about Defense?" Hermione asked, eyebrow raised as she packed up her books.

Harry grinned, "Since Snape is going to be our teacher and Ron and I may or may not have slipped Dobby some itching powder to put in all his robes."

"Sirius would be proud." Ginny laughed.

"It was his idea."

* * *

The trio walked into Defense minutes later and Harry and Ron fought smiles as Snape's eyebrow twitched incessantly, and it was only with his trained eye that Harry noticed the more stressed frown on his face. Snape's eyes fixed on the group as soon as they walked in, and Harry dutifully looked confused as to why Snape looked angrier than usual. Normally, he'd fess up about it to lose points, but he'd only just finished the last set of detentions. The group took their usual table in the middle of the classroom and watched as Snape tried to teach about werewolves while resisting the urge to itch uncontrollably, it made the lesson far more entertaining, and he even forgot to assign the essay that would out Lupin as a werewolf to many students.

"You think Lupin will make it to next year? It hasn't happened yet."

"I doubt it. Something will happen to get him quit or get canned. It's all part of the jinx." Hermione pointed out.

"I know, it's just hopeful thinking. He's the only competent teacher we've had thus far on the subject, how are we supposed to learn anything when we have a different teacher every year?"

"Throwing yourself into life-threatening situations?" Hermione asked innocently, and Harry laughed.

"I mean, it has been helpful so far, but I can't see much adventure happening at the end of this year. I'm going for a whole year without incident."

"Good luck with that. Come on, we should probably get to Ancient Runes if we want to get there on time. It's not like you two can show up and still get everything right." Hermione, however, could practically sleep through the class and still pass with flying colors. Not that she ever did.

"That's because we're not certifiable geniuses like somebody is."

"I'm not a certifiable genius, I just put some effort into my studies and practice often."

"There's not much difference. You're the only person I know who started studying for O. at eleven."

Hermione's response was cut off by them entering the classroom and Professor Babbling starting the class.

* * *

A few weeks later, exactly one week before final exams, the four Gryffindors were sitting in the common room, chatting as they worked on homework. Around eleven, Hermione and Ron had both fallen asleep, Hermione had her head on Ron's shoulder and Ron's head had fallen onto hers. Harry and Ginny weren't the only ones who found this funny, Lavender and Parvati noticed this development and had fled up to their room in fits of giggles. Eventually, Harry said goodnight to Ginny as she walked upstairs. He was tempted to wake them up, but they looked so comfortable he couldn't bring himself to do it. Besides the fact that Fred and George had placed a bet on the two of them getting together soon and figured he wouldn't get in the way of that.

The next morning, Fred and George were thirty Galleons richer and Ron and Hermione thoroughly embarrassed.

"You could have woken us up, Fred and George took far too much pleasure in taking that honor." Ron groaned at breakfast.

"Exactly. They told me they had a bet on you two for something, and I figured they could use the extra Galleons for that joke shop I know they're planning."

"Besides," Ginny said as she sat down next to them, "It was far too cute to break up. Colin got a picture if you want to see it."

Hermione groaned, "I liked it better when you two were the subject of everyone's gossip. What happened to that?"

It's not that they minded being seen as a couple, but neither was particularly fond of their relationship being the subject of gossip.

"Let's see, you started hanging out without us more often, you've been seen in the back library alone, and you fell asleep on each other last night," Ginny said, ticking each point off on her fingers. Hermione rolled her eyes and turned back to her breakfast and Ron laughed slightly, which caused Hermione to lightly hit him on the arm.

"Reason number four, you act like an old married couple."

"They've always acted like an old married couple." Harry pointed out, and Ginny nodded in agreement as Luna slid into the seat next to her.

"Good morning everyone." She turned to Ron and Hermione, "So, are you two official yet?"

Hermione sighed, "We might as well be." She entwined her hand with Ron's and turned to Luna, "How in the world did you know already?"

"Oh, Lavender and Parvati got ahold of the picture Colin took and showed Padma, who told nearly everyone in Ravenclaw and Pansy, and word got to Hufflepuff through Terry Boot, while Pansy gagged about it to the Slytherins. Nearly everyone knows." Luna told her, "Of course, if you weren't friends with Harry and if you hadn't gotten involved in your previous adventures, it wouldn't have been as big a deal."

"At least I've been offered a reprieve from all the talk of me dating a twelve year-old." Harry grinned as his friends' exasperated looks grew.

"I'm nearly thirteen, thank you very much." Ginny corrected, "But I agree, it was getting tiring telling everyone that I wasn't hiding in broom cupboards with you every chance I got."

"Oh, don't worry, those rumors are still circulating, but everyone is freaking out over these two, so it's not as obvious," Luna assured them.

"How do you know all this?" Ron asked, he had only heard whispers and caught a few pointing, he had no idea how big it apparently was.

"There's an advantage to people not noticing you. It's quite easy to hear what others are saying, though it's a shame it's not all nice."

"How do they not notice you? You're friends with Harry, and you have the craziest sense of style I have ever seen. I'd have a hard time not noticing you." Luna had decided to continue wearing her Butterbeer cork necklace, along with all her other eccentric accessories, including her lion and raven headpieces for Quidditch games.

"I suppose the better term would be ignoring. Not that I mind, I love Ravenclaw and all it stands for, but I think some people forget that part of gaining wisdom is believing the impossible, and searching for proof until you find it or are proven wrong beyond a shadow of a doubt."

Hermione nodded her agreement, she hadn't always understood that, but being friends with Luna for so long had opened her eyes to a lot of different impossibilities being possible.

"You should write a book for all those people Luna." Ron joked, "You could title it, 'The Joys of Being Open Minded: A Journey in Believing the Impossible'. It would be a best seller."

"I would buy it." Harry offered, completely serious.

Luna laughed, "Perhaps I should. It might open peoples' minds to the idea of people with eccentric personalities."

"Of course, you would have to write it under a false name, otherwise they wouldn't take you seriously."

Luna nodded seriously, "That would be unfortunate."

* * *

 **Ah, I love Luna! And looks like Ron and Hermione broke first!**

 **~PH**


	26. Third Year Closes

**Dang, chapter 26. For reference, the complete story is 51 (?) chapters. Anyway.**

* * *

Before they knew it, it was the end of term feast. It seemed that not even Dumbledore could find a reason to grant Gryffindor last minute points, which meant that for the first time in many years, Gryffindor finished with the fewest House Points, even with their landslide Quidditch Cup victory. This earned cheers from the entire hall since the other three Houses had tired of Gryffindor's last-minute victories and the Gryffindors were still on a high from the Quidditch Cup (which many of them cared more about). On the other hand, Lupin would not be returning next year for reasons not given, but Harry knew his conscience had finally gotten the best of him. It wasn't ideal since he was easily the best Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher he'd ever had and probably ever would, but it would open it up for imposter Moody to take the position, which was pretty crucial. In the meantime, Harry was simply enjoying his meal and talking to everyone. Ron and Hermione were sitting next to each other during the meal, though those who cared were so used to this by now that the only ones who commented were the twins asking if Hermione was crazy for the fifth time since Ron and Hermione made it "official".

Harry glanced over at the Ravenclaw table and saw Luna had hardly touched her food. While he certainly wasn't the first to notice the change in her as the end of the year got closer, today seemed particularly bad. So as soon as the feast ended he waved everyone else on and hung back to fall into step with Luna.

"I suppose you want to talk about why I've been so down." It wasn't a question, and Harry couldn't think of a reason to skate around the topic so he nodded.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, but with Ron and Hermione being a couple, it's reminding me of..." Harry nodded, he had become pretty good friends with Rolf in their time, and as strange as it was to not be able to talk to him anymore, he couldn't imagine what Luna was going through.

"Have you talked to him since you tried to find out if he had returned?"

"Nothing beyond class work. He's very different, you know. I suppose we all were when we were young, but I didn't quite know him back then, so it's a new experience."

"Maybe you should try getting to know this one." The two of them had reached an old courtyard and sat.

"Harry," Luna dropped her voice, "I'm forty going on thirteen, and he's still worried about his Charms scores."

Harry nodded slightly, "I know, and I'm not saying you have to start dating or anything, but you need to talk to him. I've known you a long time now, and I can tell this is really bothering you. You're not going to get past this until you talk to him."

Luna sighed, "I've been telling myself the same, but-"

"Luna, talk to him."

Luna sighed in defeat and nodded, before looking to the stars in the sky, "It's strange how much we change. Before, I would have started talking about Blibbering Humdingers and Crumple Horned Snorkacks."

Harry laughed, "Luna, you've changed both the least and the most of all of us. You've discovered two dozen new species, you have an amazing family, and you still end up on the worst dressed list every year."

Luna laughed softly, "I know, I suppose it's just a bit much all at once. I went from being married for fifteen years to being barely an acquaintance of his."

"I can imagine where that would be tough, but if anyone could do this, it's you. Could you imagine if it was me, and Ginny was still too nervous to put together a sentence in front of me, or Hermione having to deal with a Ron before he grew up a little?"

This brought a smile to Luna's face, "You could do it." She looked back toward the sky before turning to the entryway, "We should probably go before we get caught, I promise I'll talk to him though." She gave Harry a hug before turning to go the opposite way, and Harry set off towards to Gryffindor Common Room, narrowly avoiding Filch on the way.

* * *

Harry didn't see Luna until she entered the compartment the next day, and she seemed much better.

"Did you talk to him then?" He asked as she sat next to him.

She nodded, "I talked to him for an hour this morning, he told me to keep in touch this summer."

"Are you going to?" Luna nodded as the others walked in from loading the trunks onto the train. Ginny took the other seat next to Harry as Ron and Hermione took the seat across from them.

"So," Ginny said as she sat, "What are the plans for this summer?"

"Well, I have to break it to my parents that I have a boyfriend. They'll want to meet you, Ron."

Ron sighed, "I know, but at least I won't have to wait so long to see you."

Hermione nodded, "And you won't be introducing yourself at the same time I'm restoring their memories."

"That was certainly an awkward first meeting." They started laughing as the countryside blurred past outside the window. When the arrived on the platform, Harry gave parting hugs to everyone before following Aunt Petunia to the car.

About halfway home, his Aunt finally said something,"How was your school year?"

This shocked Harry for a moment, his Aunt had never been one to inquire into his personal life, especially his magical personal life, despite her usual nosiness. So it took him a moment to respond.

"Oh, it was good. I got to go to a village nearby for most of the year." Harry didn't realize his slip up until his Aunt responded in a carefully controlled tone, but Harry's trained ear caught the fear beneath it.

"What do you mean most of the year?"

"Oh, uhm. There was an attack on the village. I wasn't there at the time though, and no one was seriously hurt." He felt bad lying, but he didn't think his Aunt needed to know he had been in the village at the time, let alone part of the fight.

His Aunt stiffened and nodded, "Oh. Okay then."

The conversation dropped after that, and his Aunt had a tighter grip on the wheel the entire way home. When they got there, Harry immediately went up to his room with his things before leaving the house to walk around the neighborhood, lest he be drawn into another awkward conversation.

* * *

A week later, Sirius appeared in the Dursley's driveway to bring Harry to his house. When Harry didn't run out right away, he knocked on the door. He was greeted by a large boy, who seemed to immediately recognize Sirius.

"He's in the garden, I'll go get him." He waddled away and a minute later Harry appeared in the doorway, he had muddy jeans on and was holding his dirty trainers in his scratched up hands.

"Hey, Sirius. Sorry, I was helping plant some roses, let me grab my stuff." Harry put his shoes on the doormat before running up the stairs, reappearing a few minutes later with his trunk. "Let's go."

Sirius had an amused smiled as he helped load the trunk onto his motorcycle, "So, planting flowers now?"

"Yes. Aunt Petunia appreciates the help and it's not bad work." Harry told him as he put on his helmet and climbed on. Sirius laughed as he did the same, leaving for his house. When they got there Sirius pulled Harry into the living room, where Remus was sitting with a few books next to him.

"What's going on?"

Remus answered for them, "We know about the Triwizard Tournament coming up this year, and we know you're going to be in it, so we want to make sure you can transform into your Animagus form if needed. So sit down, and let's get to it."

"Okay. I've been meaning to get to this anyway, it's just been hard with Dumbledore keeping tabs on my every move. I'm not sure how much he actually knows, but I doubt it's much if he hasn't confronted us about it."

"Probably because you've taken a page from Moody's book and are casting anti eavesdropping spells everytime you talk to anyone?" Sirius suggested innocently, and Harry shrugged.

"Yeah." He turned to Remus, "Let's get to it."

After five hours, Harry had successfully transformed into his Animagus form, a black owl with silvery markings around green eyes and small red mark hidden beneath the black. He transformed back with a grin. "I guess Hermione was right about me being too stubborn to change. I was the same thing before."

"I'm surprised. Patronuses are usually the same as Animagi." Remus mused.

"I was at first too. But Hermione had an answer for that too. She was a bit wordier, but basically, a Patronus tends to be more of a protector and is strongly related to emotions, which is why it can change, but an Animagus is more about the person and their characteristics." Remus smiled, he figured Hermione would be the one to be able to answer that. "So, Sirius, do you have our dinner for tonight?"

Sirius nodded as he walked into the kitchen, returning with ice cream, toppings, and bowls with spoons.

"Fortescue's?"

"Is there any other kind?"

Harry shook his head as Remus looked at Sirius straight-faced, "You better have chocolate."

"I knew in advance you were going to be here, of course I have chocolate, I don't bloody well have a death wish." Remus and Sirius smiled as the three of them dug into the ice cream and piled on toppings upon toppings as they talked.

* * *

That night after Remus had left and Sirius had retired to his room, Harry decided to put his Animagus form to use. He transformed and flew over to the Burrow, and up to Ron's room. He flew into the open window and landed on Ron's head. Ron bolted up and Harry flew to the end of his bed, transforming back into a person. Ron took several minutes before he realized what had happened.

"Bloody hell, you scared me half to death!" Ron whisper-shouted, still half asleep, and Harry laughed quietly.

"Couldn't help myself. I finally got around to becoming an Animagus again so I figured I'd have some fun. By the way, do you know if you're going to the World Cup this year? Sirius told me he got us tickets earlier."

Ron nodded, "Dad told us at dinner. I was going to rush over, but mum said Sirius and Remus had something planned for you and didn't want to be interrupted. I guess I know what the plans were now."

Harry grinned, "Yeah, they know about the Tournament this year and that I was going to end up in it, so they figured I should have a way out if I need it. I'm just glad it didn't take three months like before."

"Well, I suppose it helps that you were already one before. Maybe your magic or whatever recognized that and made it easier?" He shrugged.

"That's what Remus said. Plus, Sirius is a seasoned Animagus, so it was nice to get some tips from him." The boys talked for a half hour before Harry took off again, eager to get a decent nights sleep.

* * *

Harry was woken up the next morning by Ron and Ginny jumping on his bed, shouting. "Wake up! Come on!"

"Alright, alright, I'm up!" Harry muttered groggily.

Ginny flopped down cross-legged on the bed. She was followed by Ron, who sat on the edge of the bed. "So," she started, fake pouting, "Ron told me you paid him a visit last night. Why didn't you visit me?"

"Because your room is right below your parent's room and I thought it'd be a bit weird if they walked into me sitting on your bedroom floor in the middle of the night."

"Point taken, but still. Anyway, I guess he also told you that dad got tickets for us?"

"Yeah, Sirius got tickets for us too. Oh, and guess who else is going to be there?"

"Who?"

"Tonks. I accidentally let slip to Sirius about her and Remus after he left last night and he invited her to come last night. I did make him promise not to tell either of them though, especially Remus."

"Way to go, Harry. At least he made a promise, could you imagine knowing you were going to marry someone you barely knew in the future?"

Ron made a face, "I don't know if that would make me want to go out with that person, or avoid them at all cost."

"Knowing Remus, he would avoid her at all cost." Ginny nodded in agreement as Sirius entered the room.

"Hello, my little forty year-olds. Ron, this letter just came for you, it's from Hermione." He handed Ron the letter before leaving again.

Ron opened the letter and sighed, "Hermione just told her parents about us, they want to meet me before school starts."

"Well, we're supposed to pick her up next week for the World Cup, tell her you can meet them then."

"That'll work, now I just have to tell mum and dad."

"Just wait until I have to tell them their little girl is dating Harry Potter."

* * *

 **SO. I'm aware of the mandrake leaf thing to become an Animagi, but it wasn't a thing (to my knowledge) when I wrote the original chapter, so let's just say that because he'd been one in the past, some of that stayed with him, kinda like how they can all still perform advanced spells and such.**

 **~PH**


	27. A Full House

**Yay! New chapter! Thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites!**

* * *

Later that day, the three of them were drinking lemonade in the Weasley's backyard when Mrs. Weasley came out with a plate of sandwiches for lunch. Ron paused as he went to grab two of them. He knew he had to tell his parents before they picked up Hermione, and figured he might as well get it over with.

"Mum, could I go with dad to pick up Hermione? Her parents wanted to meet me."

"If your father is okay with it. Why do they want to meet you?" Mrs. Weasley asked as she set down the plate for Harry and Ginny.

Ron rubbed the back of his neck, telling her the first time had been bad enough, and she'd been expecting it that time, "Well, uhm, we started dating at the end of th-"

Ron wasn't able to finish his sentence, as his mother had wrapped her arms around her "baby boy" who was just "so grown up!" Harry and Ginny exchanged glances, silently agreeing that they would be telling her through letter while they were safely at Hogwarts.

It took fifteen minutes for Mrs. Weasley to calm down and let him talk, but he managed to convince her that it wasn't anything big, just some hand-holding (she didn't need to know the truth). But she still made a big deal of it when Mr. Weasley came home, and Ron did not miss the look his father gave him that told him he would be having a chat with his father that night. Harry didn't miss it either, so when Ron begged him to sleepover he hastily came up with the excuse that he didn't have his toothbrush, and therefore couldn't possibly sleepover.

* * *

The rest of the week went slowly for Ron. If it wasn't Mrs. Weasley gushing over the fact her baby boy (who was now taller than her) was growing up, it was the twins' merciless teasing. But, the week did end and soon, Ron and Mr. Weasley were getting ready to go pick up Hermione. Ron had insisted they wear Muggle clothes, as Hermione's parents were Muggles and they would be going into their house. Mr. Weasley, of course, had no objections to that. Ron silently begged for this meeting to go better than last time he'd first met Hermione's parents when he'd almost got punched in the face. But that was more due to the sudden return of memories than anything Ron had done. Ron took a deep breath and stepped into the fireplace, flooing over to the Grangers (temporarily) connected fireplace.

When Ron stepped out of the Grangers fireplace moments later, he first greeted her parents, shaking their hands, before giving Hermione a small side hug. It didn't take long for Mr. Weasley to notice the television sitting in the corner, he had never seen one and became engrossed in it, examining the buttons and grinning when it flickered to life. Hermione's parents took this as their opportunity to grill Ron on his dating their daughter.

Thankfully, Ron had already gone through this once and knew her parents well enough that he knew what to say. Soon enough, the Weasleys were getting ready to leave with Hermione and the promise that they would be sleeping with five floors and several adults between them.

The first thing Hermione faced when she walked through the door was a face full of red hair, as Ginny wrapped her in a hug. When Ginny finally let go of her, she was greeted warmly by Mrs. Weasley, as usual, but Hermione knew from experience that she was silently judging if she was good enough for Ron. There was no easy way to prove it, not when she was so protective of her children, but Hermione could make it easier on herself.

She grinned, "Hi Mrs. Weasley, would you like some help with lunch today? I imagine having to feed Ron alone is difficult, let alone the rest of us."

Mrs. Weasley laughed, "Oh, that's sweet of you, but I'm quite alright."

"Are you sure?"

"Oh, yes, I have plenty of experience cooking for a large group." She gave one last smile before going to make lunch, Hermione had been right that cooking for such a large group was a lot of work.

"Bill will be arriving today and Charlie is going to be here tomorrow, it's going to be a full house, make sure you have your rooms set up properly." Mr. Weasley informed the group before leaving for his shed of Muggle things.

The twins waited until he was completely gone before turning to Hermione with identical grins on their faces, "Ah, Hermione."

"It's good to see you again."

"We knew about you and little Ronniekins, of course."

"We even collected a handful of Galleons on a few wagers gone good on you two."

"But we didn't think it was so serious that your parents would want to meet him."

"But we do now, so we have to applaud you." Hermione looked confused for a moment and they elaborated.

"On such stupendous acting, as no one who seems to be as smart as you would date our brother."

Hermione couldn't help but laugh along with the others at Ron's expense. Besides, she hadn't gotten anything more than some feeble teasing last time, for obvious reasons, so it was actually refreshing hearing the jibes.

Ron suppressed a smile, but he couldn't resist getting back at them, "At least I have a girlfriend, which is more than either of you can say."

The twins' laughs stopped and Fred stared at Ron with shock, it was rare that Ron did more than scowl or roll his eyes when they teased him, but to retaliate? And so confidently, at that? They conceded defeat, but only so they could retreat to their rooms and plan their revenge.

Hermione giggled and kissed Ron's cheek, "I think you just became a target."

"It was worth it."

* * *

Bill arrived just as lunch was being served, "Ahh, perfect timing." He was soon mobbed by his family, he'd seen them at Easter, but that was months ago and he still lived in Egypt, at least for the next year or so. It didn't take long for him to spot Hermione since she was the only non-redhead there. "So, you must be Hermione. I'm Bill, nice to meet you."

They shook hands as Hermione smiled and nodded, "It's nice to meet you too."

"I must say, I'm surprised. You're the smart one, right?" Hermione nodded, "Then what are you doing dating my brother?"

Hermione laughed as Ron rolled his eyes, "Sorry Bill, the twins already used that one."

"You kidding? They got that one from me, just ask Charlie." The twins laughed, and even Percy snorted.

Ginny snickered, "I still can't imagine Charlie dating anyone, he seems like the eternal bachelor type."

"That's a story for when you're older, dear sister." Ginny frowned, she hadn't had that card pulled on her in years.

"Fine, I'll find out anyway though."

"She will." Percy confirmed, "She finds out everything somehow."

"It's probably because of dad." Fred grumbled to his twin, and George agreed. Ginny smiled innocently went to help her mother carry in food.

Only herself and Ron and Hermione knew that she had known every creak and squeak the house made by the age of five and could move around the house completely undetected when she wanted information. Mrs. Weasley and Ginny returned minutes later and everyone was soon too busy eating to talk.

* * *

Charlie showed up early the next morning, _very_ early. He had gotten off work earlier than expected and had shown up at the Burrow as the sun started to peak over the lowest hill. He briefly contemplated letting his family sleep and just making himself some tea, but then he remembered all the times his siblings woke him up before the sun rose on Christmas and decided to just wake them up. So he grabbed a pot and a ladle (not the good ones, of course) and started banging them together, "I'M HOMMMMEEEE!" Soon the entire Weasley clan, along with someone Charlie didn't recognize, was downstairs.

"Bloody hell Charlie, couldn't have waited until we could see the sun to wake us up?" Ron yawned and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He wasn't the only one. Ginny had fallen asleep standing up and Percy was leaning heavily on a kitchen chair. The only ones who seemed fully awake were the twins and his parents.

Mrs. Weasley had engulfed her son in a bone-crushing hug and was already headed to the kitchen to make breakfast for the family. Mr. Weasley had hugged his son as well and was now supporting the half-asleep Ron. The twins looked like they had never gone to bed in the first place.

Charlie laughed, "Well I must say, this is the best welcome I've ever gotten. Where's Bill? I thought he was getting here yesterday."

"He did, I'm not sure how he slept through that commotion though. I think you woke up Harry and Sirius next door as well." Mr. Weasley commented, seeing the lights on through the window.

"Nah," Ron yawned, "Their lights are always on. Sirius is terrible at turning them off."

"Ah, well, I figured it was payback for all those Christmases. Now, about the brunette in the room."

"Oh, she's Ron's new girlfriend." George smiled, and Charlie raised his eyebrow, ruffling his brother's hair, "Well, you can tell she likes him if she's still here with the show he's putting on."

Fred waved his hand in front of her face, "She's asleep Charlie. How on Earth did these two fall asleep standing up? I didn't know that was possible."

Mr. Weasley smiled, "They'll go far someday. A lot Aurors have learned how to sleep standing up, saves them the time they would spend getting up, apparently."

"Enough of that, I smell mum's food, I say we dump some cold water on them and go eat." Charlie said, "You do that and I'm going to go wake up Bill." Before Mr. Weasley could say anything, Charlie was running up the stairs. Five seconds later there was a scream and they saw Charlie running back down the stairs with a foamy Bill right behind him. More bubbles seemed to be coming out of his mouth as he ran.

Mr. Weasley chuckled, recognized the spell, and knew Bill would be spewing bubbles until he stopped swearing, which could be a while. "I suggest we all go eat now."

Charlie and Bill, who was now suds-less, didn't join them for an hour. But the two of them were sitting next to each other and joking as soon as they sat down, which was the norm in the Weasley household.

"So I didn't get to ask, what are you doing here so early?" Bill asked.

"Oh, we were able to move a Welsh earlier than expected, which moved up the Horntail inspection."

"Inspection?"

"It's like a checkup, but some official comes in and double checks that it isn't going to be able to go burn down a city. Anyway, I never got your name, Ms. Ron's new girlfriend." Charlie asked, turning to the only brunette in the room.

"Oh, my name's Hermione. It's nice to meet you, Charlie."

"It's nice to meet you too, Hermione. Glad to see we haven't scared you off yet."

* * *

Around ten, Harry showed up at the Weasley's with pink hair.

Ron snorted as he walked in, "What happened to you?"

"Tonks just got here and Sirius thought it would be hysterical if we matched. I got back at him by giving him a pig's snout."

Mrs. Weasley walked in at that moment and frowned, "There's no magic outside of school, Harry."

"It was a potion, Mrs. Weasley. And Sirius was the one that brewed it in the first place." That wasn't strictly true, but it was close enough. Mrs. Weasley could only shake her head in exasperation as she walked back out.

"So what's the truth?" Ron asked.

"That was the truth. Sirius did brew the potion first. I just used his recipe to brew the batch I used today."

"Nice. Well, Hermione and Ginny are out back."

"I was wondering why I wasn't mobbed by her." Harry laughed as he followed Ron out to the back. Hermione and Ginny weren't the only women out back, Luna was also there.

"Luna, what are you doing here?" Ron asked, apparently unaware she was also here.

"Oh, Ginny let me know that Hermione was here and I decided to come over." Ron nodded as he and Harry sat down.

"Luna was just telling us that we should try and rent tent space near each other at the cup."

"You're going to the Cup? Did you last time?" Harry asked, and Luna nodded.

"Oh yes, it's customary of the Cup to give two tickets to any long-standing newspaper with a decent enough following. _The Quibbler_ just makes the cut so daddy and I are going to provide coverage."

"I'll be sure to get a copy of that recap. It'll probably be more interesting than whatever the _Prophet_ gives us." Harry told her.

"At least until I get a job there." Ginny said, with a close eye on their surroundings.

"Of course, I love the Potter-Skeeter faceoffs. Especially the ones that end with you attacking her."

"Well when she accuses me of fighting with my husband after accusing Neville and Hannah of being drunks, I'm not just going to let her get away with it." Ginny huffed.

* * *

 **Man, I love Charlie.**

 **~PH**


	28. The Quidditch Cup

**So close to getting to the meat of the story, which is Harry's fourth year (and the reason I started this fic in the first place, actually)**

* * *

Luna left for the Quidditch Cup a week before the others left, and had been updating them to the goings-on of the campsite. At least three Muggles had been Obliviated already and two fights had broken out between the Ireland and Bulgaria supporters, which landed one Bulgarian in the medical tent.

The night before they left, Harry and Ron were helping Mrs. Weasley pack food for the campgrounds, while Ginny and Hermione were making sure that Mr. Weasley didn't forget anything. Bill, Percy, and Charlie had gone to bed early, but the quartet was long accustomed to working on less sleep than most, so they had volunteered to help out. They had just finished putting the last of the food in the bag when Hermione and Ginny walked back inside, Mr. Weasley right behind them.

"Don't stay up too late, we're all getting up early." Mr. Weasley called after them as he put the bags by the front door.

"Yes, Mr. Weasley."

"Okay, Dad."

After he left, Hermione sighed, "He nearly forgot the tent. He did think to put an undetectable extension charm on the pack, however."

"Most bloody useful charm out there." Ron muttered, and Harry nodded with a chuckle.

"Anyway, we should probably go upstairs now. I don't want to go on less than three hours of sleep if I don't have to." Ginny said, rubbing her eyes. Hermione nodded as she yawned, leading the way up the stairs while Harry said goodbye and made his way back home.

* * *

Everyone was up before the crack of dawn, trudging up the hill towards the old shoe Portkey. The Diggorys had met up with them about halfway, and it was the first time any of them had been face to face with Cedric, most of them, especially Harry, had avoided him for the most part. Harry still felt guilty for the graveyard, even though the more rational part of him knew it wasn't his fault, and none of them had any reason to reach out to him in the first place. It was a slightly awkward trek, but Harry and Ron filled it with talk of Quidditch while Hermione and Ginny kept their conversation among themselves. They got to the Portkey without incident, and they were dragged to a grassy field, everyone except the twins landing on their feet.

Harry barely listened as the very conspicuously dressed wizard directed them to their lots. Harry had to help Mr. Weasley with the Muggle money before they made it to their campsite. Sirius and himself had the site right next to the Weasleys, so they spread out across the two of them. Mr. Weasley tried getting them to make a fire by hand, like the Muggles, but Sirius pointed out that most Muggles just used electric stoves now and he consented to use the stoves built into the tents. He did send the trio for the water because he refused to believe the Muggles had figured out running water outside of homes. He was right, of course, but that hadn't stopped the others from trying.

On the way there, they passed the young child who had taken his father's wand and the young girls who were riding the toy brooms before running into Dean and Seamus. Seamus greeted them enthusiastically, after ensuring they were rooting for Ireland. None of them dared to tell him they would be okay with either team winning, as they had become good friends with Viktor (at least, in their past life they had). They did still have loyalty to Ireland though, so it wasn't a total lie. They met his mother, to whom Harry was careful to emphasize his sanity and non-attention hogging nature. He wasn't sure if it worked, but he was also hoping it wouldn't be necessary, though he still wasn't sure how he was going to end this all. When they got to the water pump, they couldn't help but laugh at the man in the woman's nightgown, and the poor Ministry employee being forced to deal with him.

"It's a lot more amusing from this side of the confused wizard." Harry commented, and Ron agreed.

"Worst part of being a trainee."

They eventually made it back to the site after running into Oliver, who had made the Puddlemere Reserve team, Ernie Macmillan, and Cho Chang, who smiled and waved. All three of them waved back, and Ron couldn't resist making a jab at Harry.

"Flirting with Cho, are we?"

Harry snorted. "As if. I'm not an idiot, Ginny would kill me. Besides, how awkward would that be? She's fifteen."

They passed the foreign students, one of whom Harry recognized as a Durmstrang student, probably there to support his classmate, even if he wasn't being as obvious about it as the other supporters.

Eventually, they got to cooking, and they cooked the meal much faster and easier than it would have been using a regular fire, which was good because Ron had eaten the first egg and three sausages they had made. Bill, Charlie, and Percy arrived and Ron got cut off until the others ate. They were nearly done when Ludo Bagman showed up.

"Ah, Ludo!" Mr. Weasley exclaimed, shaking the man's hand.

"Ahoy there Arthur! What a week it's been. Perfect weather all week, not a hitch in the planning." Ludo rambled for a moment before everyone greeted him as Mr. Weasley introduced everyone. Bagman's eyes darted to Harry's forehead as he was introduced, which Harry was used to, but knowing that Bagman's unfulfilled bets with the goblins were a big part of what caused their neutrality in the war made Harry more irritated with the movement than it normally did.

"So, anyone up for a bet?" He asked after some Ministry talk. The twins jumped at the chance, and despite Mr. Weasley's best efforts and Ginny reminding them where their money was supposed to be going to, the twins were determined to make the bet, so Harry did the next best thing: ensuring they kept the money they already had, no matter what.

"Excuse me, Mr. Bagman, but according to a couple people I heard on the way here, you're not always the best when it comes to paying back bets. Why don't the twins keep the money they bet? I'm sure Mr. Weasley will make sure they pay anything they might owe you after the match."

Bagman stared at Harry for a moment before narrowing his eyes and nodding, handing the twins their money before walking off, scribbling on his betting sheet.

"What was that about?" Fred asked with a raised eyebrow.

"We just heard someone talking about some trouble Bagman had gotten into with some bets he made in the past." He glanced at Bagman heading towards some goblins. "You should probably warn him against betting with those goblins, Bill. Something tells me he wouldn't have any qualms cheating them out of the money."

"You're probably right. I'll be right back." Bill said, jogging over to him.

Without Bagman being there, they didn't attract the attention of Crouch and avoided the unpleasant encounter with the unpleasant man. They were able to enjoy the rest of the night in peace, and Harry and Sirius were soon making their way to their tent. They were just outside when they saw Tonks walking up. Her hair was bright green, apparently, she supported Ireland.

"Wotcher, Sirius!" She called out, a smile on her face. Sirius waved her over, then she noticed Harry, "You must be Harry, nice to meet you." She shook Harry's hand with a smile.

"And you must be Tonks. Sirius told me he invited you. I like your hair, by the way."

"It's ok, you don't have to lie to me. I look dreadful in green, it's only because I'm rooting for Ireland that I even bother. I haven't quite settled on a color yet, but luckily, I don't have to."

"Anyway, we were about to head to bed. The girls' tent is the smaller one right next door, don't keep them up too late, we want to be ready for the game."

"Course. Thanks for inviting me, by the way. I would've had to read about it through the Prophet if you hadn't."

"Well, you are one of the few relatives I can put up with, and the only one even remotely close to my age, so I figured why not?"

Harry fought off a snort. Sirius hadn't even thought about her until he mentioned the fact she married Remus in his time.

"I'm going to head to bed. Nice to meet you, Tonks." He moved the tent flap aside and walked in. The tent was made for two people, which was why Ron wasn't bunking with them. Harry flopped into one of the beds and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

* * *

Everyone was excited when it was time for the Quidditch Cup. They talked briefly with Luna, but she was in the press box, so they couldn't talk for long before they were ushered towards their seats. They all eventually made their way to through the stadium to their seats. Remus had shown up that morning, and Sirius had managed to seat him and Tonks next to each other. The two started talking about Quidditch, Remus talking about his time as the announcer while Tonks revealed she played for the Hufflepuff team.

"It's probably why I'm so clumsy, I spent more time in the air than on the ground."

"I knew a few people like that." Remus said, and Tonks laughed,

"There was this one kid a couple years younger than me, I think his last name was Ollie or something. But he was in the air more than I was. He tried sneaking a broomstick in his first year, and according to the Gryffindors, he was giving pep talks in his third year."

"Sounds like Oliver Wood." Harry supplied, "He was the Gryffindor Captain my first three years, we would have had practice every day if it was up to him. I think McGonagall told him he couldn't have practice more than four times a week."

"Yup, that's definitely him."

"He sounds like James." There was a slight hitch in Remus's voice as he continued, "He was constantly practicing. If he wasn't trying to get your mother's attention or pulling pranks on the Slytherins, he was flying."

"Usually dragged me along with him." Sirius pointed out with a slight grin.

Harry took the moment to slip away with the Weasley kids to buy some Omnioculars to watch the game better.

Ron graciously accepted them, "I won't say I'm going to pay you back, but I definitely won't try to pay you with Leprechaun gold."

"Good to know." Harry smiled, and the group made their way back to their seats. Harry and Ron sat between Ginny and Hermione as the game started, though they didn't remain seated for long. They were soon standing, yelling and cheering with everyone else in the crowd, following the movement of the Quaffle as it weaved between the players. But Harry was more interested in the Snitch, he watched it as soon as it was released, not taking his eye off of it. It was soon lost in the bright colors and lights of the crowd, but Harry spotted it twice before one of the Seekers made a move towards it, even without the Omnioculars.

He turned his head towards the Quaffle again, just as Ireland scored again. Ginny was next to him, her trained eye following every bit of movement on both teams. She scoffed as one of the Bulgarians lobbed the Quaffle too hard, sending it past his teammate. Luckily, another teammate had been behind that one and grabbed the ball before an Irishman could get to it. The Bulgarians scored moments later, the ball having scraped past the Irish keeper's fingertips. Harry spotted the Snitch again just as Krum did. Everyone watched as the flawless Wronski Feint was pulled off, and Harry grinned, it was always satisfying seeing such a brilliantly performed move. The game continued its fast pace until Krum finally caught the Snitch, losing the game but ending it before it got too long.

The celebrations didn't last for long, however, as the Death Eaters soon made their appearance.

* * *

 **I enjoyed writing this chapter.**

 **~PH**


End file.
